Former Dolphins star, Super Bowl MVP Jake Scott dies after fall
Dolphins safety Jake Scott was the MVP of Super Bowl VII. which capped off the team’s perfect season.
Jake Scott, the ballhawking safety who was MVP of the Super Bowl that capped the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ perfect season and later was jettisoned after multiple disagreements with coach Don Shula, died on Thursday in Atlanta. He was 75.
Scott, who was born in Greenwood, South Carolina, and lived primarily in Hawaii since 1982, was visiting friends in Georgia and had been hospitalized after injuring his head in a fall about a week ago, former teammate Dick Anderson said.
“He was a great teammate and a great player,” said Anderson, who owned a Colorado ranch with
Scott during parts of the five years that they comprised one of the greatest safety tandems in NFL history.
“Jake was a unique individual. He was either yes or no. No middle ground with Jake. He had an opinion on everything.”
Scott, a former seventhround pick, made the Pro Bowl in five of his six seasons with the Dolphins, was a first-team All Pro twice and second-team All Pro three times. But he is most remembered for his falling out with Shula and for his two interceptions in the Dolphins’ 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl 7, punctuating the only undefeated
season in NFL history.
Scott was named MVP of that game.
He also helped Miami win Super Bowl 8, with two fumble recoveries, 20 punt return yards and 47 kickoff return yards in a 24-7 win against Minnesota.
He picked off 35 passes in 84 games with the Dolphins, then corralled 14 more interceptions in the final 35 games — and three seasons — of his career with Washington.
Scott — who attended the University of Georgia, was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1968 and began his career in the Canadian Football League — started all 126 games during his NFL career.
His Dolphins tenure ended under unusual circumstances in 1976.
According to Anderson, Scott said something derog