Tag: Paul Warfield

Flashback Friday: Dolphins 1972 perfect team celebrates 50th anniversary

It’s a special anniversary for a perfect team.

On this first Friday of April, following a momentous month of March in Miami, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the Dolphins’ banner accomplishment – the 1972 undefeated season.

It was 50 years ago that head coach Don Shula and his Dolphins steamrolled through the NFL to go 17-0, capping the only perfect season in NFL history, with a 14-7 Super Bowl victory over the Washington Redskins.

A team loaded with Hall of Fame players such as Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield, Jim Lager, Larry Little and Nick Buoniconti helped lead the Dolphins to domination. They were the NFL’s top-ranked offense and defense in 1927, shutting out their opponents three times during that season.

In 17 games, including the postseason, Miami’s perfect defense only gave up 20 or more points on three occasions. When the season hit mid-October, the Dolphins’ defense hit its stride. From Week 6 through Week 19, Miami didn’t allow over 100 passing yards. They created 46 turnovers in the regular season, and in the playoffs, the Dolphins’ defensive unit caused 10 turnovers, including three in the Super Bowl.

The Dolphins had the offensive magic of the perfect backfield led by Ohio’s own Csonka. Mercury Morris was the charismatic running back to play alongside Csonka. The pair both exceeded 1,000 yards in the regular season, which was just 14 games. Jim Kiick added a complimentary punch to Shula’s rushing attack, as the trio combined for 2,638 yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground.

As for the passing attack, Griese started the season off with five straight wins before an injury led to veteran quarterback Earl Morrall taking the reins, and he did so, well, perfectly.

Morrall, in his 17th professional season, rattled off a 9-0 record to help Miami not lose a step in their quest to return to the Super Bowl. The 1971 team lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24-3. Making it back in 1973 ade in two Super Bowls in a row for Shula and the Dolphins, the franchise’s only victory in the big game. While he led Miami two another two appearances in the 1980s, they weren’t able to capture another Lombardi Trophy.

The 1972 Dolphins have been a timeless tribute and a major source of pride for the organization and their legions of loyal fans and supporters. Whether it’s rewatching highlights of a graceful Warfield corralling a perfect pass from Griese in the championship game, seeing Csonka run through a would-be-tackler, or the simple joy of a cork-popping soundbite following the last fallen unbeaten in today’s game, that team continues to provide this community with palpable pride.

In a season of newfound hope in South Florida, coinciding with this special anniversary of perfection, perhaps there’s magic in the air in Miami Gardens, as the ghosts of 1972 will, without a doubt, be all over the sidelines in 2022, in person and in spirit.

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Tyreek Hill adds much-needed explosiveness to Dolphins’ offense

The wideout could bring comparable numbers to some of Miami’s best.

With the acquisition and introduction of Tyreek Hill, the Miami Dolphins are receiving a player not had by the franchise in decades. Literally. The former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver has the big-play, home-run electricity that the Dolphins have been longing for.

At Thursday’s media presser, Hill’s confidence was on full display, and the six-time Pro-Bowl selection is already ahead of the game in the pantheon of decorated Miami wideouts in career achievements.

Mark Clayton was named to five career Pro Bowls, and his “Marks Brother,” Mark Duper, had three to his credit. The last Pro Bowl wide receiver for Miami was Jarvis Landry, who made three-straight Pro Bowls in South Florida and continued that streak with the Cleveland Browns in two more seasons. Hall of Famer, Paul Warfield had seven career Pro Bowl honors, five of which came as a Dolphin and two with, ironically, the Browns.

End of season honors aside, it’s that big-play threat that Hill brings which Miami has lacked since Dan Marino was throwing.

The last time Miami had a player catch three passes for touchdowns in one game was Thanksgiving Day in 2003 when Chris Chambers had his signature performance in Miami’s throwback threads. Chambers shocked the Dallas Cowboys crowd with five catches, 96 yards, and his hat-trick on way to a 40-21 win.

Before Chambers, the last Miami receiver to post three in one game was a prime-time affair when Marino found Lamar Thomas for a trio of scores, leading to a 31-21 victory on Monday Night Football. Thomas had career-highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns that night with six catches for 136 yards and those scores.

Enter Hill, who has a hat-trick of hat-tricks to his name. He did so as recently as Week 4 last season against the Philadelphia Eagles, when he had 11 catches for 186 and scored not once, not twice, but thrice. He also accomplished three touchdowns in 2020 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and back in 2018 against New England. All three times were road games.

Eight of his top-ten highest single-game yardage outputs occurred on the road with one of those times being against the New York Jets in 2017. In that game, he recorded six catches, 185 yards and a pair of scores.

Coincidentally, the last player to accomplish scoring a rushing and a receiving touchdown in the same game against Miami was Hill himself back in 2020. The last Dolphin to accomplish this was Kenyan Drake, the “Miami Miracle” man, himself.

Miami’s seasonal record for receiving is, no surprise, owned by Clayton with 1,389 yards back in 1984. Hill’s career single-season best is 1,479 in 2018. Last season, Hill caught 111 passes, which could make for a nice combination with Jaylen Waddle, who started his NFL career off in 2021 with 104 receptions. Miami’s single-season receptions mark is 112, set by Landry in 2017.

To set the bar, the Dolphins’ record for longest reception is 86 yards, owned by Warfield. Hill’s longest so far in his career is 79 yards. That’s seven yards off, and perhaps he can surpass this mark, from 1971, in his seventh NFL season.

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Browns legend Paul Warfield paved the way for today’s massive contracts

Warfield stunned the NFL by joining the World Football League in 1974

Paul Warfield is one of the greatest football players of all time and that includes both college and professional. Warfield was an All-American and national champion at Ohio State, which led to him being drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns in 1964. Warfield is a Pro Football Hall of Famer with a resume that includes two Super Bowl victories, an NFL championship victory and eight Pro Bowls. He spent time with the Miami Dolphins and the Browns, but most forget the lone season Warfield spent in the now-defunct World Football League.

Warfield spent the 1975 season with the Memphis Southmen. Although that season and league aren’t memorable, the way he left the NFL forced professional sports as a whole to change. In 1974, Warfield — along with Miami Dolphin teammates Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick — left the NFL for at the time a record contract for all of professional sports of over three million dollars for three years. When asked about the contract Warfield quoted The Godfather and said, “they made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

The offer was so jaw-dropping that when they gave Miami and their owner, Joe Robbie a chance to match the offer, Robbie got so angry that he threw the trio out of his office. the next day he was quoted by a reporter saying, “Has anyone ever asked you to deposit $3 million in a bank as a price to continue a conversation?”

Warfield’s salary for the WFL would end up being $220,000, but what really put the contract over the edge was the guaranteed salary, signing bonus, product endorsements, luxury apartments, cars and travel expenses. This end number would likely still be less than the current NFL league minimum, but in 1974 it had NFL owners shaking and resulted in contract negotiations being changed forever.

Dolphins HOF’er offers Isaiah Ford some advice at Super Bowl event

Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame WR Paul Warfield met Isaiah Ford at a Super Bowl event in Miami — and offered him some route running tips.

When a Hall of Famer talks, you’d be wise to listen!

No one is questioning Miami Dolphins wide receiver Isaiah Ford’s wisdom this morning after a really cool exchange between Ford and Dolphins legend Paul Warfield at a South Florida Topgolf facility as part of Miami’s extensive Super Bowl festivities this week. The moment, which was captured and shared by Topgolf’s social account yesterday afternoon, offers a glimpse into the football fraternity at a very intimate level — where the tricks of the trade are timeless and gladly passed from one generation to the next.

Seeing Ford simply soak in Warfield’s input says it all:

Ford, who logged his first significant NFL action in 2019 as a member of the Dolphins, will hope to put Warfield’s tips to good use this summer when he attempts to make Miami’s upgraded 53-man roster for the 2020 season. He’ll face stiff competition from DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant and Allen Hurns, leaving little wiggle room to ensure a spot on the roster — especially if the Dolphins choose to bring back WR Albert Wilson for another season. The return of Wilson is currently slim, given his financial obligations. But there’s little stopping the Dolphins from targeting a wide receiver prospect in the mid-rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft, especially given how much draft capital they have at this disposal.

Every little bit will help Ford latch onto the roster, including a tip here or there from a Hall of Famer.

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Dolphins pick up second representative on NFL 100 all-time roster

The Miami Dolphins have picked up a second representative on the NFL 100 all-time roster.

Wide receiver Paul Warfield wasn’t just a Miami Dolphin. The receiver actually spent the majority of his professional career with the Cleveland Browns — 8 of his 13 seasons, to be exact. But Warfield’s best days came as a Dolphin. Throughout 5 seasons in Miami, Warfield played in three Super Bowls, won two, was named to five Pro Bowls and was twice named an All-Pro.

That’s a pretty darn good half a decade. And so when the NFL announced that Warfield was among the wide receivers included in the NFL 100 all-time roster, it was a Miami Dolphins uniform Warfield sported in the graphic. Rightfully so.

To his credit, Warfield’s recognition and honor would have been well deserved no matter what. The receiver was one of the most potent offensive weapons of the 1970s, averaging 20.1 yards per reception over 13 NFL seasons. Warfield’s career featured 85 receiving touchdowns between his time in Cleveland and Miami and eventually landed him a spot in Canton as an enshrined member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Miami is running slim on additional candidates to be honored. The team honored head coach Don Shula with the coaches. Could this team also included the man before his time in Dan Marino? He’s the only option left for the Dolphins.

Playing to Marino’s favor is how heavily skewed the all-time roster has been to date with players no longer in the playing field. Of all those who have passed Marino in the all-time passing record books, many haven’t called it a career yet. Tom Brady will claim a spot as an active player. Recently retired Peyton Manning will as well. If the NFL 100 roster only have 5 spots for quarterbacks, Marino may be in trouble — the roster will still need to find spots for Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas and potentially others.

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