Title/Author:
“Undefeated: Inside
the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ Perfect Season” by Mike Freeman
Tags:
Football (American),
history, championship, Dolphins
Publish date:
August 21, 2012
Length:
463 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
Only one team has completed an
entire NFL season, including playoffs, undefeated since the 1970 merger between
the NFL and AFL. That team, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, is the subject of this
interesting book by Mike Freeman.
Just about everything and everybody
associated with the Dolphins during that historic season is covered in the book.
Whether a reader wants to learn about the penny-pinching ways of owner Joe
Robbie, the brilliance of general manager Joe Thomas in putting the team
together (he was fired before the season ended by Robbie), the intensity of head
coach Don Shula or more about many of the star players on that team, there is
excellent material about these topics.
The players’ stories are some of the
best in the book. Two of them who played key roles in the success of the 1972
Dolphins were running back Mercury Morris and defensive lineman Manny Fernandez.
These two were chosen to be mentioned in
this review because the combination of their stories on how they became key
components to the undefeated season combined with their interesting personal
stories make for excellent reading. Of
course, this isn’t to shortchange other players highlighted such as Larry Csonka,
Paul Warfield, Bob Griese, Jake Scott and so many others. Morris and Fernandez
are merely two examples of the players who are portrayed in a complete manner
in this book.
Of course, the actual game on the
field plays an important role in the book.
However, this is not a simple recap of each game, rehashing of important
plays or wins, nor does it follow a chronological, orderly history lesson about
the season. Instead, everything that
played a factor in the team’s historic run was mentioned. That begins with in the locker room after
Super Bowl VI, a crushing loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Shula tells the team they will be back to the
big game with a different result. The journey
ends with Miami proving their coach right by ending a perfect 17-0 season by
defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. That game is the one that is described with
the most detail. Even if a reader knows
little else about the game, team or season, he or she will get a good sense of
just how dominant this Dolphins team was in the game and over the entire year.
Every year the surviving members of
this team celebrate whenever the last unbeaten NFL team loses its first game of
the season. They have good reason to do
so, and readers who want to learn more about this special team should add this
book to their libraries to find out why they have been celebrating for over 45
years.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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