NOBODY’S PERFECT
The most imperfect play nearly ruined the perfect season.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins set the standard for perfection as the only undefeated team in the Super Bowl era. But one of the most ridiculous plays in NFL history came close to spoiling it.
Miami’s No-Name Defense dominated the Washington Redskins en route to a 14-7 victory in Super Bowl VII. But the Redskins had a last-gasp chance thanks to a Super gaffe from Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian, who managed to cram an entire blooper reel into a single play.
With the Dolphins leading, 14-0, and a little over two minutes remaining, Yepremian had his 42-yard field goal try blocked by Washington’s Bill Brundige. Yepremian scrambled to his right and got to the loose ball before holder Earl Morrall, the backup quarterback who had caused his share of Super Bowl chaos by throwing four interceptions in two trips with the Colts. Yepremian scooped the ball up and tried to throw a pass. The ball slipped out of his hand, going straight up in the air. Yepremian then tried to bat the ball out of bounds, but instead hit it right into the arms of Redskins cornerback Mike Bass, who dashed 49 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. With 2:07 to play, perfection was in jeopardy.
“Now we laugh about it, but it wasn’t funny then,” linebacker Nick Buoniconti told author Danny Peary in “Super Bowl: The Game of Their Lives.”
The Redskins didn’t try for an onside kick. The Dolphins ran off five plays before having to punt. The Skins got the ball at their own 30 with about a minute left. Bill K ilmer threw three i ncomplet ions, t hen wa s sacked by Vern Den Herder to end it, leaving George Allen’s Over-the-Hill Gang on the losing end and completing the Dolphins’ perfect season.
Bob Griese, who missed nine regular-season games and a playoff game with a broken leg, with Morrall filling in at QB, completed 8-of-11 passes for 88 yards and one TD, a 28yard strike to Howard Twilley late in the first quarter. Larry Csonka rushed for 112 yards on 15 carries.
Buon icont i i ntercepted Kilmer late in the first half to set up the Dolphins’ second TD, a one-yard run by Jim Ki
ick in the second quarter. Safety Jake Scott, who would later finish his career with the Redskins, picked off Kilmer twice, including once in the end zone, to become the second defensive player named Super Bowl MVP.
Miami coach Don Shula finally had his title on his third trip to the Super Bowl, and the Dolphins became the fourth team in the game’s short history to come back to win it after losing in their first try.
The ’72 season didn’t have a perfect postscript: There was no trip to the White House due to the Watergate scandal; the Dolphins had to wait until 2013 to finally get to see the President.