Miami Dolphins History

Miami would first join the American Football League in the year 1965 when an expansion team franchise was awarded to actor Danny Thomas and lawyer Joseph Robbie in exchange for $7.5 million. Eventually, Thomas would come to sell his share of the team to Robbie. That year, a contest was held in order to select a new name for the team. Over a thousand different names were submitted in over nineteen thousand entries. Of the finalists, most prominent were the Mariners, the Suns, Marauders, Sharks, Mustangs, Moons, and Missiles. Six hundred twenty two entrants in the contest submitted the winning name, the Dolphins.

By the time Don Shula became coach of the team, the Miami Dolphins had a combined record of 15-39-2 in its premiere four seasons. Shula stated at the outset that he was not a magician and that the only way he knew how to make the team win was through hard work. The training camps with Shula soon became the stuff of painful legend. But Shula?s hard work would pay off in the end ? Miami would quickly improve to a 10-4 record that resulted in their first ever appearance at playoffs, which they lost 21 to 14 at Oakland.

Throughout the early half of the 1970s, the Miami Dolphins were an incredibly successful team. They became the first football team ever to advance to the Super Bowl for three consecutive seasons. The Dolphins captured the AFC Championship in the year 1971, thanks to wide receiver Paul Warfield and quarterback Bob Griese. The Dolphins would lose the sixth Super Bowl to the Dallas Cowboys, however, at 24-3.

The Miami Dolphins will always be remembered for their perfect season in 1972. They won every single one of their regular season games, plus two playoff games, and topping it all off with a victory at that year?s Super Bowl against the Washington Redskins, 14 to 7.

After the 1973 regular season, the Dolphins finished with an impressive 12-2 and made it once again to the Super Bowl, beating the Minnesota Vikings 24 to 7 at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. They would make it to the Playoffs once again the following year, but lose in the first round to the Oakland Raiders. This was nevertheless considered one of the greatest games ever played in the history of the National Football League.

In the year 1976, the Dolphins would rebound from a 6-8 losing record by winning ten or more games in four out of the following five seasons. With a new group of stars that included Dough Betters, A.J. Duhe, and Bob Baumhower, Shula managed to build a solid defense. In the year 1977, the Dolphins went 10-4 once again, but would lose the division title to the Colts. While they made it to the playoffs in the year 1978, they would lose to the Houston Oilers.

In the year 1980, David Woodley replaced an injured Bob Griese, who would never play again. Miami made it back to the top of the AFC East in the 1981 season, with an 11-4-1 record. Woodley would later be replaced with the esteemed rookie Dan Marino, who would go on to win the AFC in the 1983 as well as the NFL Rookie of the Year award. Marino would go on to lead the team well in to the 1990s. An Achilles injury to Marino meant that the team wound up missing the playoffs in the year 1993, despite their 9-2 start. The following year, Marino would return to lead the team to a 10-6 record.

Dave Wannstedt, former coach of the Chicago Bears, would become the Dolphins? new coach at the start of the 2000 season. Jay Fiedler, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, would join the team as the new quarterback. The Miami Dolphins did not have such high expectations from their fan base or the league at this point. Nonetheless, the defense team would break through with Trace Armstrong and Jason Taylor getting ten sacks each. Four of the Dolphins? players ? Brock Marion, Sam Madison, Patrick Surain, and Brian Walker ? would tally a minimum of five interceptions each. Zach Thomas, the linebacker, would also tackle many an opponent. What is more, Lamar Smith would go on to rush for over a thousand yards. The Miami Dolphins would finish up on top of the AFC East having attained a record of 11 to 5.

The Miami Dolphins won against the Indiana Colts in the playoffs? first round, thanks to Lamar Smith?s touchdown. In the next round, however, Smith?s prowess was not enough ? the team would end up losing to the Oakland Raiders.

It was not until the year 2002 that the Miami Dolphins would be able to revitalize their running game. Much of this was thanks to new running back Ricky Williams. Randy McMichael, the rookie tight end, also played well during this season. Much of the Miami Dolphins? new offense was thanks to the coordination of Norv Turner, who had been hired just for that purpose. Fiedler made quite a comeback that season as well against the Broncos, however his game would be cut short thanks to a thumb injury. A lot of Miami Dolphins fans thought that backup Ray Lucas would be able to outrun Fiedler. This proved not to be the case, however.

The 2003 and 2004 seasons were hit and miss for the Miami Dolphins. In the year 2004, Randy McMichael was arrested on domestic violence allegations. David Boston, newly signed from San Diego, ended up injuring himself during training and having to sit out for the whole season. Later, he would fail a drug test for steroids. Ricky Williams shortly after retired for reasons that were not clear at the time, and it was later revealed that he had a substance abuse problem. As the team finished one of its worst seasons in history, Wannstedt decided to resign as coach. He would be replaced by defensive coordinator Jim Bates, under whom the Miami Dolphins did slightly better. Bates was shortly after replaced by Nick Saban. After Saban accepted a job at Alabama, Cam Cameron became the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

January 2007 the Miami Dolphins signed Cam Cameron, the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, to a four year deal. With Cameron's expertise on the offensive side of the ball, the Chargers led the NFL in scoring in 2006.

In March the Dolphins signed outside line backer, Joey Porter to a five year contract. Porter spent his first eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was elected to the Pro Bowl 3 times.

On NFL Draft day Tedd Ginn Jr. (9th overall) was selected by the Miami Dolphins with their first pick. Quarterback John Beck from Brigham Young University was chosen in the second round (40th overall).

In June, Pro Bowl Quarterback Trent Green was acquired by the Miami Dolphins from the Kansas City Chiefs for a fifth-round draft choice in next year's draft.

On July 17, 2007 the Miami Dolphins released quarterback Daunte Culpepper, having 3 other quarterbacks on the roster.

On August 20, 2007 the Miami Dolphins announced that Trent Green would be their starting quarterback.