Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1972 season. The Dolphins defeated the Redskins by the score of 14–7, winning their first Super Bowl, and became the first and still the only team in modern NFL history to complete a perfect undefeated season.[4] They also remain the only Super Bowl champion to win despite having been shut out in the second half of the game. The game was played on January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, the second time the Super Bowl was played in that city. At kickoff, the temperature was 84 °F (29 °C), making the game the warmest Super Bowl.[5]
"1973 Super Bowl" redirects here. For the Super Bowl that was played at the completion of the 1973 season, see Super Bowl VIII.
Miami Dolphins
(AFC)
(14–0)
January 14, 1973
Redskins by 3[1]
90,182[2]
Little Angels of Holy Angels Church, Chicago
Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis, and Bill Enis
42.7
(est. 53.32 million viewers)[3]
72
$88,000
Jim Simpson and Kyle Rote
This was the Dolphins' second Super Bowl appearance; they had lost Super Bowl VI to Dallas the previous year. The Dolphins posted an undefeated 14–0 regular season record before defeating the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. The Redskins were making what would be the first of five Super Bowl appearances in a 20-year period, after posting an 11–3 regular season record and playoff victories over the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. .[6] Despite being undefeated, the Dolphins were actually one-point underdogs,[7] largely based on the weakness of their regular season schedule (and losing the previous Super Bowl).[8]
Super Bowl VII was largely dominated by the Dolphins, and is the second-lowest-scoring Super Bowl to date with a total of only 21 points (three touchdowns and three extra points), behind only the 13–3 score of Super Bowl LIII. The only real drama occurred during the final minutes of the game, in what was later known as "Garo's Gaffe".[9] Miami attempted to cap their 17–0 perfect season with a 17–0 shutout by means of a 42-yard field goal by Garo Yepremian,[10] but instead the game and the season was jeopardized when his kick was blocked. Instead of falling on the loose ball, the Dolphins kicker picked it up, attempted a forward pass, but batted it in the air, and Redskins cornerback Mike Bass (who was Yepremian's former teammate on the Detroit Lions years earlier) caught it and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. This remains the longest period in a Super Bowl for one team to be shut out, as Washington was held scoreless until 2:07 remained in the fourth quarter.[note 1] Because of the turnover and score, what was a Miami-dominated game became close, and the Dolphins had to stop Washington's final drive for the tying touchdown as time expired.
Dolphins safety Jake Scott was named Most Valuable Player. He recorded two interceptions for 63 return yards, including a 55-yard return from the end zone during the fourth quarter. Scott became the second defensive player in Super Bowl history (after linebacker Chuck Howley in Super Bowl V) to earn a Super Bowl MVP award.
Background[edit]
Host selection process[edit]
The NFL awarded Super Bowl VII to Los Angeles on March 21, 1972, at the owners' meetings held in Honolulu. For the first time, multiple Super Bowl sites were selected at a single meeting, as hosts for both VII and VIII were named. Five cities, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Dallas, and New Orleans, prepared serious bids, while San Francisco (Stanford Stadium) withdrew from the running a week prior to the vote. After nine deadlocked votes, Bud Adams recommended awarding two consecutive sites. This compromise mirrored an idea brought up in 1971 by representatives from Miami.[11][12] Los Angeles won on the ninth ballot, while second place Houston was named the host for VIII. In order to accommodate the game, the Pro Bowl was shifted from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to Texas Stadium for 1973.[13][14]
Broadcasting[edit]
The game was broadcast in the United States by NBC with play-by-play announcer Curt Gowdy, color commentator Al DeRogatis and sideline reporter Bill Enis; who also covered the Trophy presentation, with other contributors including Kyle Rote. This was Enis' final Super Bowl telecast before his death on December 14, 1973, as well as Rote's last Super Bowl before leaving broadcasting and DeRogatis' first Super Bowl as lead color commentator (and only Super Bowl as the solo analyst).
This was the first Super Bowl to be televised live in the city in which it was being played, via NBC's flagship station in Los Angeles, KNBC (Channel 4). Despite unconditional blackout rules in the NFL that normally would have prohibited the live telecast from being shown locally, the NFL allowed the game to be telecast in the Los Angeles area on an experimental basis when all tickets for the game were sold.[23][24] The league then changed its blackout rules the following season to allow any game sold out at least 72 hours in advance to be televised in the host market.[25] No subsequent Super Bowl has ever been blacked out under this rule, as all have been sold out (owing to its status as the marquee event on the NFL schedule, meaning that tickets sell out quickly).
Because of Super Bowl VII, NBC was forced to delay its broadcast of Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii concert, which took place the same day and was intended to be broadcast around the world live. NBC eventually re-edited the concert and aired it later that April.
This game is featured on NFL's Greatest Games under the title "17–0".
Entertainment[edit]
The pregame show was a tribute to Apollo 17, the sixth and last mission to land on the Moon and the final one of Project Apollo. The show featured the Michigan Marching Band and the crew of Apollo 17 who exactly one month earlier had been the final humans to date to leave the Moon. The Apollo 17 crew also recited the final Pledge of Allegiance in Super Bowl history.[26]
Later, the Little Angels of Chicago's Angels Church from Chicago performed the national anthem.
Part of
January 14, 1973
"Happiness Is"
Note: A seven-official system was not used until 1978. Back Judge and Field Judge swapped titles prior to the 1998 NFL season.
Super Bowl postgame news[edit]
As Shula was being carried off the field after the end of the game, a kid who shook his hand stripped off his watch. Shula got down, chased after the kid, and retrieved his watch.[43]
Manny Fernandez was a strong contender for MVP. Wrote Nick Buoniconti, "It was the game of his life–in fact, it was the most dominant game by a defensive lineman in the history of the game, and he would never be given much credit for it. They should have given out two game balls and made Manny Fernandez the co-MVP with Jake Scott."[15] Larry Csonka also said he thought Fernandez should have been the MVP.[44] The MVP was selected by Dick Schaap, the editor of SPORT magazine. Schaap admitted later that he had been out late the previous night, struggled to watch the defense-dominated game, and was not aware that Fernandez had 17 tackles.[45]
When Garo Yepremian went back to the Dolphins' sideline after his botched field goal attempt, Nick Buoniconti told him that if they lost he would "Hang you up by one of your ties."[21] Yepremian would joke to reporters after the game, "This is the first time the goat of the game is in the winner's locker room."[46] But Yepremian would be so traumatized by his botched attempt that he had to be helped from the post-game party by his brother because of a stress-induced stabbing pain down his right side. Depressed, he spent two weeks in seclusion until he was cheered up by a letter, apparently from Shula, praising him for his contributions to the team and urging him to ignore criticism. Yepremian kept the letter and mentioned it to Shula in 2000, but Shula had no knowledge of it. They concluded the letter was actually written by Shula's wife Dorothy, who died from breast cancer in 1991. She had signed her husband's name to it.[47] Nevertheless, "Garo's Gaffe" made Yepremian famous and led to a lucrative windfall of speaking engagements and endorsements. "It's been a blessing", said Yepremian, who died in 2015.[43]
The same teams met 10 years later in Super Bowl XVII, which was also played in the Los Angeles area, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Redskins won that game, 27–17. Two starters from Miami's undefeated team, guard Bob Kuechenberg and defensive end Vern Den Herder, were still active during the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Redskins had no players remaining from Super Bowl VII on their Super Bowl XVII roster. The last member of the 1972 Redskins still active with the franchise, offensive tackle Terry Hermeling, retired after the 1980 season.
Redskins linebacker and defensive captain Jack Pardee retired immediately following this game, ending a 16-year career. He coached the Chicago Bears for three seasons (1975–77) before succeeding Allen as Redskins coach in 1978. Pardee was fired following a 6–10 campaign in 1980 and was replaced by Joe Gibbs, who led the Redskins to three Super Bowl championships (XVII, XXII, XXVI) and 171 victories to earn induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After coaching the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League in 1984 and '85, Pardee coached at the University of Houston (1987–89) and the Houston Oilers (1990–94).
The Miami Dolphins became the second team to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous year. They were the last team to do so until the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.