Miami Dolphins at 50: Top 10 LBs
By Dan Heaning
Mandatory Credit: MiamiDolphins.com
No. 5 – Larry Gordon
Larry Gordon got to Miami just in time to miss all the Super Bowl fun in the 70s, but stuck around long enough to get to the big game in the 80s.
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The 17th overall pick in the 1976 NFL Draft, Gordon earned the starting left linebacker spot right out of the gate.
His last game came in the 1982 season as he helped guide the Dolphins to the Super Bowl during the lockout shortened season. He recorded a sack, but Miami would lose to Washington 27-17.
During his career, Gordon racked up about 609 tackles with about 16 sacks. But perhaps his most impressive feat was his durability as Gordon missed only one football game from 1976 to 1982 and only failed to start in three contests.
But his iron man status on the football field didn’t transition off of it as Gordon tragically died in July 1983. Gordon was jogging when he collapsed outside the Arizona desert. He was pronounced dead an hour later at a Phoenix hospital.
Gordon was a machine on the football field and if not for one tragic summer day in 1983 he may have played in plenty more football games. His consistency, work ethic, and stamina earn him the fifth spot on this list.