Tag: Baltimore Colts

From Super Bowl III to Adam Gase, Don Shula was a fixture in Jets history

Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, who won the most games of any NFL coach in history, died on Monday. He was 90.

Don Shula, who won the most games of any NFL coach and led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in league history, died on Monday at the age of 90.

A legendary coach and a fierce competitor, Shula won two of his five Super Bowl appearances and totaled 12 AFC East titles. His footprint can be felt all over the game of football, including the Jets organization. He died peacefully in his home surrounded by loved ones, according to the Dolphins.

“Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years,” the team said in a statement. “He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene. Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike.”

Although Shula won 347 games and had only two losing seasons in 33 years of coaching, there was always one loss in particular that stung more than the others. Before he cemented himself among NFL royalty in Miami, Shula coached the Baltimore Colts. He was the man in charge when the Colts lost Super Bowl III at the hands of Joe Namath and the Jets. The Jets became the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl after achieving one of the greatest upsets in sports history with a 16-7 route of Baltimore.

“Did it motivate me later on? I think I was always a pretty motivated guy as a student, as a player, as a coach, as a father,” Shula once said of the defeat, according to the New York Post. “But sure, it was something I had to learn to live with. It happens, and you can’t change that it happened, so you learn to live with it and you try to learn from it. Did it make me a better coach? Every game I lost helped make me a better coach.”

Shula’s Baltimore and Miami teams met with the Jets 56 times, including two of the most important games in Gang Green history of the franchise. In addition, to beating the Colts coach for Super Bowl III, Shula was also with the Dolphins for the Mud Bowl.

The Jets were forced to play Shula’s Dolphins twice a year. In Shula’s 26 years of coaching the Dolphins, his squad swept the Jets 11 times, including a three for three in 1982 that included the Mud Bowl. The Dolphins beat the Jets, 14-0, in that infamous game for that year’s AFC Championship game. Miami would go on to lose to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII.

Shula played the Jets more than any opposing head coach. His 32 wins over Gang Green are second-most by any coach, with all 32 coming at helm of the Dolphins. The Jets’ 18 road losses at the hands of Shula-coached teams are the most against any coach in franchise history.

While Shula’s dominance over the Jets hasn’t carried forth to this day, his teachings and his legacy can be seen in the current team. More specifically, they can be seen in Adam Gase, who had a relationship with Shula when he coached the Dolphins from 2016-18.

“I want to extend my deepest condolences to Coach Shula’s family and the Miami Dolphins community,” Gase said in a statement. “Any time I got to spend with him was always the best part of my day. I truly enjoyed getting to know him and treasured each and every interaction we had. He was a fountain of information who was readily available to assist when asked. Coach Shula was rightly revered as a great coach and a better person. He will be missed tremendously.”

Social media reacts to the death of legedary Dolphins coach Don Shula

Legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula died Monday. The reaction was swift.

Legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula died Monday at the age of 90. The sadness and reaction was swift from the NFL and sports world.

Mike Curtis, inaugural Seattle Seahawk, passes away at age 77

Former Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis, who was a member of Seattle’s first NFL team in 1976, passed away on Monday at age 77.

Longtime NFL linebacker Mike Curtis, who played for the Seattle Seahawks in 1976, passed away on Monday morning. He was 77 years old.

Curtis spent the vast majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts, getting selected 14th overall in the 1965 NFL draft out of Duke University.

He went on to play 11 seasons with the Colts, serving as their middle linebacker and making four Pro Bowls while being named an All-Pro twice.

Perhaps his most famous moment was in 1971 when he laid out a fan on the field during a Dolphins game. He also recorded an interception in the closing minutes of Super Bowl V, which set Baltimore up to kick the game-winning field goal.

Curtis joined Seattle’s team in expansion in 1976, starting 14 games for them and recording a pair of interceptions. He then spent two more years in Washington before hanging up his cleats at age 35.

Curtis never made the Hall of Fame, although he could still find his way into Canton posthumously after a stellar NFL career.

We wish his family the best after his passing.

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Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis, who famously clobbered fan on field, dies at 77

Mike Curtis, who famously clobbered a fan during a Baltimore Colts game, has died at age 77.

Mike Curtis, who provided one of the most memorable cult moments in NFL history, died at the age of 77.

The former Baltimore Colts linebacker provided an unforgettable memory when he clocked a fan who ran onto the field during a game against the Miami Dolphins in 1971.

When criticized, the Hall of Famer responded: “[The fan] shouldn’t have been out on the field,” Curtis said.

Curtis also helped set up Jim O’Brien’s game-winning field goal in Super Bowl V with an interception in the final minute.

Curtis played 11 seasons with the Baltimore Colts before joining the Seattle Seahawks expansion team and then for two more years with the Washington Redskins. He wore No. 32 because the Colts drafted him as a fullback out of Duke before converting him to linebacker.

Reflecting on the 10 previous Super Bowls played in Miami

Joe Namath, Jim O’Brien, Steve Young and John Elways were some of the stars in Super Bowls played in Miami.

Super Bowl LIV will be the 11th to be played in the Miami metropolitan area. Some of the games have been historic, such as the Jets’ win over the Colts in Super Bowl III, at the Orange Bowl. What do the Chiefs and Niners have in store when they meet Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens?

II: Packers 33, Raiders 14

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Vince Lombardi’s Packers won their second straight Super Bowl. Bart Starr was the MVP for the second straight season. Don Chandler kicked four field goals and Herb Adderley returned an interception 60 yards for a TD in the Orange Bowl.

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5 things to know about new Jets Hall of Famer Winston Hill

Five things to know about the Jets’ new Hall of Famer Winston Hill, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Jets great Winston Hill was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week as part of the 2020 Centennial Class.

This class, which inducted 15 players, was created to celebrate the league’s 100th anniversary. Hill was honored posthumously, as he passed away in 2016 due to heart failure.

The Jets franchise isn’t exactly a storied one, but Hill helped cement one of the most iconic moments in team history. Now, he will finally be remembered with the game’s all-time greats.

Like the man he was responsible for protecting at left tackle, right tackle and center, Hill finished his career with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977 before calling it quits.

With that, let’s look back at the life of the newest Jet in the Hall of Fame.

Career Accolades

Winston Hill’s now Hall of Fame career was filled with accolades.

Hill was elected to four AFL All-Star teams and eventually four Pro Bowls following the AFL-NFL merger. Hill was also a three-time All-AFL recipient and a three-time NFL All-Pro.

A starter on the only championship team in franchise history, Hill was named to the Jets’ Ring of Honor in 2010.

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