(cid:48)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:39)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:83)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:86) Y ou could travel to every corner of the United States but it is unlikely you would find a place with more diversity than Miami Florida People of all ages and backgrounds live there They love the area’s warm beaches sunny days tasty food and fun music They also love getting together with friends on Sundays in the fall to watch the Dolphins The Dolphins have played in Miami longer than any other professional team there Yet they are still young compared to teams in many other cities In fact thousands of fans who followed the Dolphins in their first season still go to see them play today This book tells the story of the Dolphins Although the team has had many stars over the years Miami fans know that winning often depends on players who are on the field for only a few downs a game For the Dolphins teamwork is the name of the game The Dolphins celebrate a scoring play during the 2011 season When Miami plays together as one the results are amazing (cid:24)
(cid:42)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:39)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:86) D uring the 1960s the American Football League AFL and the older National Football League NFL competed for players and fans Both leagues set their sights on the South where college football was already very popular They believed that professional football would do well there too A businessman named Joe Robbie was eager to start a team of his own The AFL suggested that he place his team in Miami The city’s population had doubled in a generation There were new fans being born every day Robbie liked what he saw The Dolphins played their first season in 1966 The Dolphins built their team by selecting players from other AFL clubs They also found college stars in the draft But Miami struggled in its first season (cid:25)
and won just three games The Dolphins had so many injured quarterbacks that coach George Wilson ended up using his son to call the signals Over the next few years the Dolphins put together a group of good young players including Bob Griese Larry Csonka Howard Twilley Dick Anderson Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris Miami also traded for older stars such as Nick Buoniconti Paul Warfield and Bob Matheson In 1970 the year that the AFL and NFL joined forces the team hired Don Shula as its coach In only his second season the Dolphins made it to the Super Bowl Before long Miami became one of the best teams in history They returned to the Super Bowl twice during the 1970s and took the championship both times In 1972 the Dolphins won all 14 games during the regular season They added three more postseason victories including Super Bowl VII to become the first NFL team to finish with a perfect 17 0 record The Dolphins succeeded because everyone on the team worked hard and did his job well Most football fans in the 1970s LEFT Don Shula directs his players ABOVE Bob Griese and the Dolphins were on a lot of magazine covers in the 1970s (cid:26)
