Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins, American professional football team based in Miami that plays in the American Football Conference (AFC) of the NFL. With a rich history that includes two Super Bowl championships (1973–74) and five conference titles, the Dolphins are the only team in NFL history to finish an entire season undefeated; their 1972 season ended without a loss and culminated in a victory in Super Bowl VII.

(Read Walter Camp’s 1903 Britannica essay on inventing American football.)

The Dolphins joined the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, four years before the league merged with the NFL. Failures during the team’s infancy brought about the hiring of head coach Don Shula from the Baltimore Colts in 1970. Shula immediately turned the Dolphins around and led them to playoff appearances in each of his first five seasons with the team, including the Dolphins’ first trip to the Super Bowl in January 1972, which they lost to the Dallas Cowboys. Featuring the “no-name” defense, captained by middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and a potent offense led by five players destined for the Hall of Fame—quarterback Bob Griese (who was injured mid-season and replaced by Earl Morrall), wide receiver Paul Warfield, running back Larry Csonka, and linemen Larry Little and Jim Langer—the 1972 Dolphins team dominated the NFL en route to posting the only undefeated season in league history. Returning to the Super Bowl the following season and thus becoming the first franchise to make three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, Miami beat the Minnesota Vikings 24–7. The Dolphins often fielded competitive teams throughout the remainder of the 1970s, but they did not appear in another Super Bowl during the decade.

In 1983 the Dolphins drafted quarterback Dan Marino, who would go on to set major career NFL passing records and be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Teamed with the “Marks Brothers”—wide receivers Mark Clayton and Mark Duper—and working behind a line anchored by center Dwight Stephenson, Marino ran an offense that often ranked at the top of the league. Despite experiencing a great deal of regular-season success, Marino and the Dolphins advanced to the Super Bowl only once in his 17-year career, a 38–16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in 1985.

Shula retired after the 1995 season as the winningest coach in NFL history. Defensive-minded squads led by defensive end Jason Taylor, linebacker Zach Thomas, and cornerback Sam Madison experienced moderate success beginning in the late 1990s, but in 2002 the team entered into the longest postseason drought in franchise history. A disastrous one-win season in 2007 prompted the hiring of Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells as head of football operations, bringing hope for a return to form. Miami posted 11 wins and 5 losses in 2008 (which tied the NFL record for the greatest win improvement from the previous season) and won a division championship. However, Parcells left the Dolphins in 2010 in the midst of three consecutive losing seasons that resulted in another coaching change after the 2011 season. The team continued its mediocre play, and the Dolphins’ streak of seasons without a playoff berth reached a franchise-record seven following the 2015 season. Miami bounced back the following year, winning 10 games and reaching the postseason, which resulted in a first-round loss. Miami then reeled off five consecutive seasons in which they missed the playoffs.

A turnaround in fortunes came in 2022, when the team hired Mike McDaniel as head coach and paired him with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins won nine games that season and returned to the playoffs, where they lost in the wild card round. Miami was an offensive powerhouse in 2023, during which they ranked first in offensive yards per game and, notably, scored 70 points in one game, the first time a team had done so since 1966. After finishing 11–6, they hoped to make a splash in the playoffs, but they once again lost in the wild card round, this time to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.