Remembering Super Bowl VII: 50 years later

Obviously Super Bowl VII is best known for being the game that solidified the 1972 Miami Dolphins' history as the only undefeated champion in NFL history. There had been two teams who had gone through the regular season unbeaten and untied (Chicago Bears in 1934 and 1942) but both lost the NFL championship game. Since Super Bowl VII, only the 2007 New England Patriots had an undefeated regular season -- the Patriots would lose Super Bowl XLII.

Perfect seasons aside, the only times an NFL team has even started a regular season 14-0 was in 2007 (Patriots), 2009 (Colts) and 2015 (Panthers). The Colts and Panthers would lose the 15th game while the Patriots would go 18-0 before losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl. None of those three teams would go on to win the Super Bowl.

While the '72 Dolphins have been both celebrated for their feat, they've also received some criticism. During their 14-0 regular season, Miami faced just two teams who had a winning record and both were 8-6 marks.  The combined record of their 14 regular season opponents was a dismal 70-122-4. The Dolphins also struggled to dispose of their two playoff opponents, needing a late touchdown drive to beat the Cleveland Browns, 20-14, and holding on to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-17.

Despite the criticism, the Dolphins team was one of the best ever and placed six players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- Brian Griese, Larry Csonka, Nick Buoniconti, Jim Langer, Larry Little and Paul Warfield -- plus head coach Don Shula and front office guru Bobby Beathard.

Washington had an equally interesting path to Super Bowl VII. After head coach Vince Lombardi died right before the 1970 season, the franchise would hire George Allen the following season. Allen would trade away his younger players and build the team with older, experienced guys ... which he dubbed the "Over the Hill Gang". The team was led by 33-year old quarterback Billy Kilmer (who replaced 38-year old Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen during the season), Hall of Fame receiver Charley Taylor, Hall of Fame linebacker Chris Hanburger and 1972 NFL MVP and league's leading rusher Larry Brown.

Washington went 11-3 that season, winning the NFC East and beating the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys in the NFC championship game. This was also the first season the team wore its Native American logo on its helmet which it would keep for the next 48 years before retiring the name after the 2019 season. 

If you've noticed for the past 50 years, there are no real legendary moments of Super Bowl VII (well, one, which we will get to in a moment). Even though it was a different era of football, just look at the stats of this game.

Miami: 69 yards passing, 184 yards rushing
Washington: 87 yards passing, 141 yards rushing

Despite only 39 total passes thrown, four were intercepted. They combined to go 6-for-24 on third down. Super Bowl VII was the lowest scoring Super Bowl (21 points) until Super Bowl LIII ended 13-3. There was limited drama in the game, with several of the Dolphins' biggest plays of the game ... including a 48-yard would-be touchdown pass to Paul Warfield ... were negated by penalty. The only real tension of the game came late when the Dolphins had to hold off a possible game-tying drive. 

Earl Morrall is one of the more interesting quarterbacks in Super Bowl history. He bounced around for six different teams, beginning his career in 1956 with the San Francisco 49ers (where he was also a punter). After his rookie season he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, before being traded to the Detroit Lions in the middle of the 1958 season. He would spend six years in Detroit before being dealt to the New York Giants. After three years in New York, he would be dealt to the Baltimore Colts where he would become Johnny Unitas' backup.

Only he would become important to the Colts in 1968. Unitas would miss the year with an injured elbow and Morrall would take over, leading the Colts to a 13-1 record and winning the NFL's MVP award. That Colts team (whose head coach was Don Shula) would be best known for losing to the AFL's New York Jets and Joe Namath in Super Bowl III. In fact, Morrall would be benched for Unitas late in the game.

Morrall would return the favor two years later in Super Bowl V. Unitas started for the Colts against the Dallas Cowboys in one of the most mistake-filled Super Bowls ever but was knocked out with a rib injury before halftime. Morrall stepped in and led the Colts to their first Super Bowl title. Shula left for the Miami Dolphins before that 1970 season, and after one more year in Baltimore, Morrall joined him in South Florida.

Once again, Morrall would have to step in for the starter ... this time Brian Griese in Week 5. Morrall would start the rest of the season, winning the final nine regular season games and Miami's two AFC playoff games. Griese would go on to start Super Bowl VII.

Morrall was also a backup for the Dolphins' 1973 Super Bowl championship team, winning this third ring. 

One of the Super Bowl's biggest rarities happened in this game. Jim Kiick powered in a 1-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left before halftime, giving the Dolphins a 14-0 lead.

MIami wouldn't score again.

They held Washington to just a touchdown in the second half, securing the 14-7 victory and still are the only Super Bowl champion to have not scored in the second half of the game. The 14 points are only the second-lowest point total for a Super Bowl-winning team (13 by the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII).

In fact, that was only one of eight times that a team failed to score in the second half of a Super Bowl ... and, amazingly, the Dolphins franchise has been four of those teams and Washington has been the team who has held their opponent three times.  The total times it has happened:

I: Chiefs vs Packers (loss)
V: Cowboys vs Colts (loss)
VI: Dolphins vs Cowboys (loss)
VII: Dolphins vs Washington (win)
XVII: Dolphins vs Washington (loss)
XXII: Broncos vs Washington (loss)
XXVIII: Bills vs Cowboys (loss)
XIX: Chargers vs 49ers (loss)

The previous year, the Dolphins set the record for the least points scored by a team in a Super Bowl (3) which was tied by the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. 

The play that is most remembered from Super Bowl VII may be one of the biggest mistakes in the game's history. Leading 14-0 with just over two minutes left in the game, Don Shula decided to kick a field goal to give the Dolphins a 17-0 lead ... which Shula thought we be cute to go alongside their 17-0 season. Miami kicker Garo Yepremian came on to attempt a 42-yard field goal, but it was blocked right back to him. Instead of falling on the ball, Yepremian picked it up and attempted to pass it to Larry Csonka but had the ball slip from his hands. He would bobble it into the air, which allowed Washington defensive back Mike Bass to snatch it from the air and roam 49 yards for a touchdown return. Suddenly a game that was all but overturned into a 14-7 contest with some game pressure.

When Yepremian returned to the sideline, Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti threatened to "hang you up by one of your ties" had Miami lost. Yepremian tried to laugh off the gaffe after the win was secured but became depressed in the weeks after the game. He would receive a letter from Shula to cheer him up and explain his importance to that team's success which lured Yepremian out of his seclusion. Nearly thirty years later, Yepremian told Shula about the letter ... which he never remembered writing. His wife, who passed away in 1990, wrote it and signed Don's name to it.

Yepremian's career was quite colorful. An immigrant from Cyprus, he didn't understand American football's rules or customs and was disliked for his non-American status. He was the last NFL player in history not to wear a facemask (a hit by the Packers' Ray Nitschke changed his stance on that). After two years with the Lions, he spent two years out of the NFL before signing with the Dolphins in 1970. From there, he'd win two Super Bowls, be named MVP of the 1973 Pro Bowl, be named to the 1970s All-Decade team after being the leading scorer of the 1970s, and owns the longest career for any NFL player who never played in college (14 years). Yet it is this play in Super Bowl VII that he is most remembered.

There hasn't been a shutout in the Super Bowl (though 3 points is the least points scored in Super Bowl history), but Super Bowl VII came very close. With the Dolphins setting up for a field goal late in the fourth quarter, the "Garo's Gaffe" that we just talked about allowed Washington to score with 2:02 remaining in the game. The 57:58 of game time that Washington remained scoreless is the longest a team has gone without scoring their first points in a Super Bowl.  

Elvis Presley's live concert, Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite, was supposed to be shown worldwide on January 14, 1973, but wasn't shown in the United States due to Super Bowl VII. The concert, which took place at about 12:30 am Hawaiian time, was shown live in many Asian markets but was taped to show in primetime in Europe and the Americas. NBC, which telecast Super Bowl VII and distributed Aloha, aired the special in the U.S. with extra footage on April 4, 1973. 

The temperature at the Los Angeles Coliseum during Super Bowl VII was 84 degrees, making it the warmest Super Bowl in history. In a bit of irony, the coldest Super Bowl happened the previous year in Super Bowl VI. That game, held in New Orleans' Tulane Stadium, had a 39-degree temperature at kickoff.

Last year's Super Bowl in Los Angeles between the Rams and Bengals was the second warmest Super Bowl ever (82 degrees). Unlike the LA Coliseum in 1973, SoFi Stadium has a roof, but the sides are open and are subject to weather conditions. 

In Super Bowl lore, most people are aware that the Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls before the AFL's New York Jets upset the NFL's Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

However, the next few Super Bowls involve teams who lost previous Super Bowls now winning the game. The Kansas City Chiefs, who lost Super Bowl I, won Super Bowl IV. Super Bowl V was won by the Baltimore Colts, who lost Super Bowl III. Super Bowl VI was won by the loser of the previous season, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Miami Dolphins continued that trend. The Dolphins, who lost Super Bowl VI to the Cowboys, won Super Bowl VII, marking the second straight season that the game was won the previous season's loser ... and the fourth straight time the game was won by a franchise that had previously lost the game.

The 1973 Dolphins broke the trend by beating the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII, but they also became just the second team to not only win a second Super Bowl but to win them consecutively. 

Jake Scott would end up winning the MVP award for Super Bowl VII. They picked off two passes, including one in the endzone and returning it 55 yards in a pivotal moment of the game. He is a worthy winner of the award, but there was some controversy over the selection.

Many felt the true MVP was defensive lineman Manny Fernandez, who was not only key in Miami's scheme to shut down Washington's Larry Brown but in pressuring quarterback Billy Kilmer, sacking him once. At the time, the only vote for Super Bowl MVP belonged to SPORT magazine editor Dick Schaap who gave it to Scott. After some criticism of his selection, Schaap would admit that he spent the night before the Super Bowl out late and wasn't totally focused on watching the defensive-natured game. He failed to notice Fernandez recorded 17 tackles and a sack and was also deserving of the award.

Scott had 35 interceptions in six seasons as a member of the Dolphins, making him the all-time leader in that category. His jersey number, 13, would eventually be worn by Dan Marino and retired by the franchise. He played his final three seasons with Washington before retiring in 1978.

While the outcome of Super Bowl VII was great for Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, the week surrounding it wasn't. Shula was very sick with the flu during the lead-up to the game, though he kept it from the media. Shula also was paranoid of Washington's head coach George Allen spying on his practices that he would bus his team away from the facility to practice at a local community college.

He was also dealing with both the expectations of this undefeated team and his failures in past championship games. As head coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1964, his heavily-favored team lost to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship game. He also was the Colts head coach when they famously lost to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.  He would leave to become head coach in Miami and led the Dolphins to Super Bowl VI, where they were thrashed 24-3. Losing Super Bowl VII with a team that was 16-0 could've been devastating to his legacy.

After winning the game, however, Shula was carried off the field by his players and someone reached up and stole the watch off his wrist. According to him, he could run down the culprit and retrieve his watch.

Consider this: the Miami Dolphins as a franchise was only in its seventh season of play in 1972. The Dolphins were founded by Minnesota politician Joe Robbie (pictured) and actor Danny Thomas and began playing in 1966 as an expansion team in the American Football League. They would win just 15 of 56 games over their first four seasons in the AFL. Miami hired Don Shula in 1970, just as the AFL merged with the NFL and he quickly turned around the franchise. Shula's first year brought the Dolphins their first winning season and first playoff appearance. The next year, they reached the Super Bowl. The following season was the 17-0 season.

Quite a remarkable path from expansion team to perfection in just 7 seasons. In one aspect, it remains the quickest a franchise has won a Super Bowl from inception. Technically the Baltimore Ravens were in their fifth season when they won Super Bowl XXXV, but the Ravens weren't built from scratch but from the relocation of the Cleveland Browns franchise. The Ravens kept the ownership, management and all of the players but left the history with Cleveland, who would rebirth the Browns in 1999. The Dolphins began from nothing.

The New York Jets won Super Bowl III in their ninth season, but they were also an inaugural member of the AFL in 1960. The Dallas Cowboys won Super Bowl VI in their 12th season.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins would have to wait 40 years for their trip to the White House to meet the President. With the Watergate scandal gripping the White House and Washington area, the Dolphins, the team wasn't invited to enjoy the traditional meeting with the Commander in Chief, then the sports-loving Richard Nixon.

The team would finally get its day in August 2013 when much of the team made the trek to Washington to be honored by President Barack Obama, who even had a few jokes for kicker Garo Yepremian.

We've come a long way -- from Andy Williams to Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Eminem -- with Super Bowl halftime shows. In Super Bowl VII, Andy Williams and Woody Herman performed with the University of Michigan marching band, playing tunes like "Put On a Happy Face" and "This Land Is Your Land." The first decade of Super Bowls typically had a performance by a marching band and it wasn't until Super Bowl XXVII that the NFL made the halftime show a full-blown event. 

The 1972 Dolphins players liked to frequent a bar in Hollywood, Florida called Stratford's, and an interesting superstition began. Stratford's owner Guy Roper Jr. talked some players into sticking a pin in a voodoo doll of Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson ... the Dolphins first opponent. Miami, of course, won that game and a Thursday night routine was born. Every Thursday after practice, the players would hang out at Stratford's and stick a pin in a doll of the quarterback they were set to face that week. And every week they won.

What brings mystery to the practice is how it ended. The players continued to go to Stratford's on Thursdays during the 1973 season to press pins in voodoo dolls to begin the 1973 season. However, in Week 2, Shula had the Dolphins fly out to Oakland on Thursday afternoon to face the Raiders, which kept the players from the bar and the voodoo doll of Daryle Lamonica. The Dolphins lost 12-7.