While I hated that the Colts yanked their starters in the third quarter Sunday against the Jets and then lost their first game of the season, the way they did it seems to have defanged the 1972 17-0 Miami Dolphins. The Fins every year pop the champagne corks when the last unbeaten team loses. It has become an insufferable yearly NFL tradition.
It reached its zenith in 2007 when the Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season, only to fall in the Super Bowl. The ’72 Fins were openly rooting for the Patriots loss, with Mercury Morris being the most giddy. After the Colts (14-1) lost, though, Morris was subdued.
“Honestly, I was disappointed,” Morris said on the Dan LeBetard radio show. “Because I would have liked to have seen them go on to where it really counts what they’re doing right now. Unfortunately for them, I understand that they wanted to rest their people and not take a chance of them getting hurt, but it would have been nice to continue the drama.”
Don Shula, coach of the 1972 team, issued a statement congratulating the Colts on their run. This was quite a contrast to what happened in 2007 and other years that saw unbeaten teams late in the season. He also said he thought it was “wise” that the Colts pulled their starters; gee, what a surprise! I would think it wise if the Patriots benched Tom Brady and Randy Moss should they play the Colts again.
I think the way the Colts lost cheated the Dolphins out of a legitimate celebration. After all, they pulled Peyton Manning with a lead, signaling that they thought playing for 16-0 meant nothing. Another weird aftermath to a weird outcome.
on Dec 29th, 2009 at 10:03 PM
I’ve been saying for a while that the undefeated season lost some luster after the Patriots’ run in 2007. Maybe it has moreso than we realize.
on Dec 29th, 2009 at 10:38 PM
It likely has lost its luster for the regular season, but since no one has gone 19-0, that is still out there for somebody. With Indy and NO both coming close just 2 years after NE, 16-0 doesn’t seem so unattainable.
on Dec 30th, 2009 at 8:29 AM
I think NO and NE may have been flukes. Teams seem to get a head of steam and some luck based on unpredictable factors that are independent of their skill.
Parity seems to prevail most seasons so the odds say that we should return to normal. Everybody loves a run, but it just draws attention to the team and causes them to make bad decisions (damaging overall success) to keep it alive. On this one I would tend to agree with Tony Dungy (
), yeegads!!
on Dec 31st, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Those grapes a little sour, are they, Jim?
Nearly every sportswriter who doesn’t cover the Dolphins posts the falsehood that the members of the 1972 team get together every year and pop champagne when the last undefeated team loses. That myth is perpetuated by those who feel it necessary to to denigrate the greatest team accomplishment in the history of the NFL. However, if you’ll check snopes.com, you’ll see that this is a myth: http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/miami72.asp
What DOES happen every year is that sportswriters like you dredge up the old tired arguments about the ’72 team, seek out members of that and ask them what they think. And when they tell you they’re proud of what they accomplished, you accuse them of being bad sports.
But I guess when those Dolphins players say that they would congratulate the next team to go undefeated, that doesn’t draw readers, now does it?
on Dec 31st, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Another gratuitous shot at the Patriots? Yes, winning every regular season game is so easy to do that two teams this season almost did it. Yes, almost.
on Jan 2nd, 2010 at 4:04 PM
I don’t think the “undefeated season” has lost luster. What made it more intense with the 2007 Patriots was the hatred of them — for Belichick’s run-up-the-score ways, jealousy of Brady, whatever. Not many people hate Peyton Manning, and I daresay many people actively rooted for the Saints when they were unbeaten.
And a point I heard today was that no QB has been perfect. The Dolphins lost Bob Griese to injury in their perfect year. That’s something Manning could have achieved that no one else has, had the Colts not pulled him from that game.
on Jan 6th, 2010 at 12:26 AM
Why are people so jealous of the 1972 Dolphins? All the media would talk about is the 2007 sPytriots if they didn’t choke everything away.
That’s why they cook up a story of the ’72 Phins being the “bad guys.” Because they need a juicy story. Well screw espn, si, and all the other media hounds. The ’72 Miami Dolphins will always be the best, not the cheating patriots who lost the biggest game.