35 Years In the Making
By Brian Miller
Today, more will play out on the field than just a football game. For the older generation of fans, an opportunity to celebrate the history of the franchise. A history that has been ignored since the day that Jimmy Johnson took over as the head coach. A history that until today, was an afterthought. Today, the Miami Dolphins celebrate the 35th anniversary of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins and for the fans, there will be something guaranteed to cheer about. It’s a celebration 35 years in the making.
The game today had been declared a sell out early in the week. A week of appearences will be culminate in the half-time show. The game will be splattered with in-game camera images of key members. Yet, for all the hoopla, the ire of the fans will still show greatly as todays’ less than stellar members hope to avoid the polar opposite of perfection.
If the Baltimore game was not enough, there will surely be the loud speaker announcements letting the fans and that 72 team know exactly what is transpiring in the bitter cold of New England, should the Patriots fall behind, Dolphins Stadium attendees may be louder than in any other game this year. Perhaps inspire a team that is still winless.
Of the players on the 53 man roster, only one, Keith Traylor, was born when the Phins went undefeated. Ask the others how they feel, and you almost get a blaise’ “big deal” attitude. Not quite a dissrespect, but not starstruck either. Ask these Dolphins how they feel about their presence and you get, “We are trying to win for ourselves“.
"”No disrespect to them, but there’s no pressure just because they’re there,” defensive end Jason Taylor said. “We hear it all the time what they did. We see the pictures in the hallway and the trophies out front. We see it every day what they were able to accomplish. It’s great for them.“We give them the utmost respect, but we have a job to do Sunday. They’re coming back to be honored for the job they did, and we have a job to do presently.”"
As the week long celebration comes to a close today, here are some articles from the past week to catch up on about the guys that made Dolphins history, history!
Spying a topic for Phins Reunion
’72 Team Rejects “grumpy” label