Remembering your first Miami Dolphins football game

When was the first Miami Dolphins football game you attended? Do you remember it? That is what the Miami Dolphins wanted to know, so they asked.

This weeks “Voice of the Fan” question by the Dolphins was “What was the first game you attended in person”? Our staff writers got together and shared their experience. Bahamian native Dale Paul-Jordan’s answer appears on MiamiDolphins.com.

Brian Miller:

I don’t remember the first game I attended live. I was only about four years old. It was the Dolphins hosting the San Francisco 49’ers to kick off the 1973 season and according to game film Miami came back to win in the second half. Since then I have seen Miami play in Washington, Houston, Cleveland, and have seen them play the Colts, Raiders, Bills, Bucanneers, Texans, Falcons, Titans, and Chargers in Miami. While nothing ever compares to the first game you can remember, mine was at the Astrodome in Houston against the Oilers, each game is different in it’s own way and that makes them all great!

Mason Hicks:

I have attended only one Miami Dolphins football game, but it could possibly be the most exciting game in the past 5 years for the Dolphins: against the Houston Texans in October of 2015. The entire team had an impressive showing, highlighted by Lamar Miller and Ryan Tannehill. This is the game RT set the NFL record for most completed passes in a row. Juice and Miller could not be stopped by a very good Houston defense. On top of all else, Reshad Jones had an impressive pick-six where he did a back-flip into the end zone for the score. The Dolphins never trailed in that game and really gave a statement.

Matt Stevens:

Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins – December 30th, 1990

This game was the most memorable for me of the handful of games I attended over the years. It was the rubber match with the Dolphins having already beat the Colts handedly. The game stayed close, with the Colt’s and Jeff George driving the length of the field to score first. Dan Marino answered with a long TD pass followed by also driving the length of the field then scoring to go up a TD.

George connected on a bomb to tie the game. I remember being impressed by his play, he played well only making a few costly mistakes that would decide the game. I also remember George being backed up near his end zone and screaming out for a safety. And that’s what happened when he intentional grounded the ball in the end zone.

The Colts looked like they would steal this win. Eric Dickerson ran for over a hundred yards as did Sammy Smith. George passed for over 200 yards and Marino just under that.

With the Dolphins up two points from the safety it came down to the fourth quarter. The game stayed close until a Colts botched exchange by George lead to a Dolphins return for a TD that would be enough to win. As the Colts could only answer with a long FG after that. The Dolphins went on to lose the second playoff game to the Bills who themselves would lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Scott Lascari:

My favorite Dolphins game I attended was on October 19, 2014 in Chicago. The Dolphins controlled most of the game, taking a 14-0 lead into halftime and scoring enough on offense and creating enough on defense to win 27-14. Seeing Chicago Bear Brandon Marshall getting extremely upset at the end of the game when a potential touchdown pass was knocked away from him was satisfying. Even more satisfying was seeing the smile on my 7-year-old daughter’s face as she left her first Dolphins game as a victor and received congratulations from the same Bears fans that had teased her on the way to the game.

Eric Frosbutter:

To be honest, most of the games I’ve personally attended have resulted in losses. Therefore, I’ve steered away some the past few seasons in hopes that I would not jinx it.

Last season, however, the Dolphins “hosted” an exhibition game in my hometown of Orlando against the Falcons. A bunch of my friends and I decided to attend since professional football coming to Orlando was such a big deal. I’m also one of the rare ones who enjoys preseason games from start to finish.

There’s a lot of talent in football so I like to see what kind of skills each player has down the depth chart. Even though the game was meaningless, it was still tons of fun, and nice to see them pull out a win. In some ways it was even sweeter seeing as how the Falcons would later represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.