Backup lineman played key part in Super Bowl celebration

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dolphins’ Perfect Season, The Miami Herald is running weekly conversations with members of the 1972 team that went 17-0.

Five questions with Al Jenkins, who was essentially the No. 7 offensive lineman on the ’72 team after starting tackle Doug Crusen returned from a preseason injury.

You spent only one of your four NFL seasons with the Dolphins. How did that one season — and playing on the NFL’s only undefeated team — change the course of your life?

“That one year put me in a great quality of mind, and it allowed other people to have a different view of me and my personality and my talents. I was able to move on in life very successfully.

“It opened doors in business; I became a sales representative and key account manager for Anheuser-Busch and I worked for them for 32 years. Being on that undefeated team played a role in getting that job. And walking around with a Super Bowl ring on your finger tends to draw attention; I wore it to special events during my post-football career.”

(Jenkins is retired and living in Solon, Ohio.)

What memory endures from that season? Any particular visual still frozen in your mind?

“The most poignant moment of the whole season was when we hit the tunnel coming out of the [Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum] before the Super Bowl. I had played in front of a lot of people and in a lot of stadiums, but this road and sound was something I had never heard in my life.”

You never started a game in your one season here and were playing behind five excellent offensive linemen to start the season, with Crusen injured. Were you OK with that, and what do you remember about each of those five linemen?

“Absolutely I was OK with that role,” he said. “I was a quality lineman and played guard and tackle. Jim Langer could block his can off. Bob Kuechenberg was ferocious. Larry Little was a great guy on the sweep and could pass protect. Norm Evans was steady Eddie. Wayne Moore was very consistent and persistent.

“It was gratifying we were able to play together and be successful. We could do everything. We could hook. We could sweep.”

What made that team special and are you surprised nobody has gone undefeated in 50 years since?

“I don’t know if I’m surprised as I am happy that it never has been matched. It’s wonderful that we are a part of [history].”

Jenkins cites how the Dolphins drafted well and acquired key players via trade.

“We were a conglomerate of players from successful teams. We had elements like the NoName defense. We were the original We team. There was never any I in there, just we.”

People see you all the time, even though they might not know it’s you. You were one of the players who carried Shula off the field on their shoulders after the team’s Super Bowl victory to cap the ’72 season, and your image is included in the bronze statue outside Hard Rock Stadium.

And in that 30-minute NFL Films special about Super Bowl VII, you’re shown shouting “Damn!” after the Redskins scored their only touchdown on Mike Bass’ 49-yard return of Garo Yepremian’s infamous interception. Viewers of that NFL Films Super Bowl highlights program see Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer throwing a pass into the Washington bench on his team’s final possession, and you exclaiming, “Hey Kilmer! Atta boy Kilmer!”

Do you look at the photo or watch that NFL Films special much?

“I watch the NFL Films special every year. It’s fun to watch. You feel a little squeamish seeing myself [on tape saying those things]. But it was funny.

“Every year I see that photo of carrying off Shula. I’ve kept the photo in my house, a photo from the Miami Herald. It’s probably in a [desk drawer or closet or basement]. It’s something I cherish. And I get a lot of response because they have me as part of the statue on Don Shula Drive by the stadium.

“As far as picking up Shula, I assumed we would all do that as a team. I think I was one of the first to lift him up; Nick Buoniconti was there, too. Dick Anderson was there. I have [a replica of] the statue of us together; I got Don and Nick to sign it” before their deaths.