December 12, 1982: The Snowplow Game

December 12, 1982: The New England Patriots host the Miami Dolphins at what was then named Schaefer Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Dolphins had dominated the AFC Eastern Division since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, although the Patriots had had their moments. This game would feature another.

The weather heavily favored the Pats. It rained before the game, soaking the AstroTurf. Then, on the day of the game, a cold snap came, freezing the water on the field. Finally, it snowed on the morning of the game, and it kept snowing during the game.

The Patriots had occasionally played in Winter weather, but, this far in their history, nothing like this. The Dolphins, used to playing in the warmth of South Florida, were totally unsuited to this.

An emergency ground rule was put into play, where the officials could call time-out and allow the ground crew to use a snowplow to clear the yard markers. Despite this rule, the ground crew could not plow often enough to keep the field clear. With today's weather forecasting and NFL scheduling policy, a decision would have been made ahead of time to postpone it to Monday night.

Neither team's players could get a good footing on the field, and the game remained scoreless, late in the 4th quarter. With 4:45 left in regulation, Patriots coach Ron Meyer wanted to kick a field goal. He later told the media that it was quarterback Steve Grogan who suggested asking for the snowplow to clear the ground for the kick. (Grogan only attempted 5 passes all game long, completing 2, for 13 yards.)

It wasn't actually a snow plow: It was a small John Deere tractor with a shovel attached to it. The driver was Mark Henderson, a convicted burglar out of prison on a work-release program. He knew why he was there, and that it was within the rules. He told the media that his reaction was, "What are they going to do, throw me in jail?"

A path was clear for John Smith, the left-footed kicker from Oxfordshire, England, to attempt a 33-yard go-ahead field goal. It was good.

Dolphin coach Don Shula was furious: “I wanted to go out there and punch him out,” Shula told The Boston Globe, meaning Henderson. “In retrospect, I should have laid down in front of the snowplow.” And he told the Los Angeles Times, “I think it’s the most unfair thing I’ve ever been associated with in coaching. It’s the most unsportsmanlike act that I’ve ever been around.”

It wasn't. Late in the game, when the Dolphins could have tried a game-winning field goa, they were also offered the use of the snowplow by the head referee. Shula refused. The Patriots held on to win, 3-0. It became instantly known as The Snowplow Game, and it remains the most famous touchdown-less game in NFL history.

With the history of the Patriots having changed considerably in the intervening 40 years, with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady leading them to victory with proven accusations of cheating, it is easy to say that the Patriots' cheating goes back to The Snowplow Game. In fact, the rule, agreed upon by both organizations before the game, meant that Henderson's actions, and Meyer's request thereof, were legal at the time.

But the Patriots' organization was wary: Shula, already one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, was on the NFL's Competition Committee, and there was concern that he might lead Commissioner Pete Rozelle to overturn the result. It didn't happen: No NFL result has ever been overturned in the League's 100+-year history. But Shula did get the rule changed for the next season, so such a thing could never happen again.

"Mark Henderson" is a common name, common enough that, when the Patriots wanted to invite the plow driver to the final regular-season game at Schaefer Stadium, which became Sullivan Stadium in 1983 and Foxboro Stadium in 1989, to be held on December 22, 2001, they discovered, incorrectly, that he was dead. It was another Mark Henderson who lived in New England and had a criminal record. When they kept digging and found the right one, they brought him onto the field -- by then, real grass -- and he received a standing ovation.

Mark Henderson, 2007, on the 25th Anniversary

Looking him up for this post, I found the same problem: Multiple Mark Hendersons who had passed away, including 2 in 2022. All I can say for sure about Mark Henderson the plow driver is that he lived long enough to give an interview to The Boston Globe in 2010, had a son also named Mark, and that the son confirmed that the father had never been in legal trouble again after his release.

What I can confirm is that the John Deere tractor was preserved, and now sits in the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, a museum at the north end of Gillette Stadium, which was built next-door to the old stadium in Foxborough.

*

December 12, 1982 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 32-17 at Shea Stadium.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 35-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-0 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-10 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-10 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Baltimore Colts, 13-10 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Washington Redskins beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-16 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Los Angeles Rams, 27-24 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Chicago Bears, 20-14 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The day before, the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* Also the day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 41-37 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Houston Oilers, 37-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Denver Broncos, 126-112 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 36 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers, 120-108 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 99-94 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

And there were 6 NHL games that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-0 at Madison Square Garden. It would be years before the neighbors would be on the same level, enough to make it a real rivalry.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their in-State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 7-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

November 27, 1994: Dan Marino's Fake Spike

November 27, 1994: The New York Jets are playing the Miami Dolphins, at Giants Stadium, in the Meadowlands, in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. At the time, Bill Belichick was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Tom Brady was in high school, the New England Patriots were 5-6, and the idea that the Pats would one day be considered the Jets' arch-rivals was ridiculous.

The Dolphins were the Jets' arch-rivals, beyond any question. While the Jets' one and only Super Bowl appearance, their win in Super Bowl III, was at the Orange Bowl, the Dolphins' former home field, the Dolphins had dominated the head-to-head matchups. Between 1970 and 1994, the Jets were a pathetic 14-28-1 against the Dolphins.

From 1983 onward, a big reason for this domination was the quarterbacking of Dan Marino. He set several NFL career passing records, most of them long since broken. He would not have set so many if he wasn't playing the Jets twice as season as an AFC Eastern Division opponent.

Marino arrived the season after the Dolphins had beaten the Jets in an AFC Championship Game, and, as the Jets' "New York Sack Exchange" defense of the early 1980s got older, and head coach Don Shula kept the Dolphins a consistent winner (although making only 1 Super Bowl themselves through Marino's 17-season tenure), Marino was able to fluff up his stats in his 2 annual contests with Gang Green.

Going into this game, the Jets were 6-5, the Dolphins 7-4 and had lost their last 2 games. A Jet win would have created a tie for the AFC East lead, and, at the rate the Dolphins were going, the Jets would have to be favored to win the Division.

The Jets led 17-0 with 12:58 left in the 3rd quarter, and extended that lead to 24-6 with 3:39 left in the quarter. But the Dolphins came back. Marino threw 3 touchdown passes to Mark Ingram, getting a 2-point conversion on one (in this 1st season in which the NFL used the 2-pointer).

It was still 24-21 Jets with 42 seconds left to play. Marino threw to Ingram, who was tackled at the Jets' 8-yard line. Everybody in the stadium, it seemed, was expecting Marino to spike the ball after the next snap, to stop the clock, to try to get a little closer, and then use the Dolphins' last time-out to get the field goal unit on the field. NBC announcer Paul Maguire said he was expecting that. And as the Dolphins hurried up to get their formation set up, Marino was motioning that he was going to spike the ball.

When the ball was snapped with 25 seconds to go, the Dolphins line barely blocked at all, as if Marino really was going to spike the ball. And he only stepped back to the 12-yard line. And then he threw the ball, into the near right corner of the end zone. Ingram was there, covered by not especially well by Aaron Glenn, and he caught it. Touchdown. The 4th Marino-to-Ingram touchdown of the game. Dolphins 28, Jets 24.

The fans went wild. Given that New York City has people from all over the world, and that television coverage in the 1970s when the Jets were bad meant that a lot of Baby Boomers became Dolphin fans (and Pittsburgh Steeler fans, and Dallas Cowboy fans, and Oakland Raider fans), it wasn't that surprising that a lot of fans inside Giants Stadium cheered wildly after the play. Some of them may even have been Jet fans, excited over seeing a great moment, before reality sunk in and they realized that they had lost. (There were still 22 seconds on the clock, but quarterback Boomer Esiason could only get the Jets to the Dolphins' 35-yard line before time ran out.)

For Marino, perhaps the best pure passer the sport has ever known, but who lost his only Super Bowl appearance (XIX, 1985, to the San Francisco 49ers), it is his most memorable moment. For the Jets, it is just one of many moments that suggest that they are, if not the worst franchise in NFL history, then, perhaps, the dumbest.

The Dolphins finished the season 10-6, and beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Playoffs, before losing to the San Diego Chargers. The Jets didn't win another game, falling to 6-10. Team owner Leon Hess fired the head coach -- Pete Carroll, who went on to win 2 National Championships at USC and a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.

Hess then hired former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Rich Kotite, saying, "I'm 80 years old. I want results now!" He got them: Kotite went 3-13 in 1995, and 1-15 in 1996, quitting before he could be fired. From the fake spike to the last game of the Kotite experiment, the Jets went 4-33, as poor a stretch as the NFL has ever known.

Hess hired Bill Parcells, who had rebuilt the Giants and the Patriots, and he did the same, getting the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in 2 years. Then Hess died, with results, if incomplete ones. That's been the story of the Jets since January 12, 1969: Incomplete results.

*

November 27, 1994 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 21-19 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-21 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Houston Oilers, 34-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 12-10 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 20-17 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Michael Husted kicked a 22-yard field goal to win it in overtime.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Cincinnati Bengals 15-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals, 19-16 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. Kevin Butler kicked a 27-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in overtime.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-17 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 21-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 10-9 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions beat the Buffalo Bills, 35-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* Also on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 42-31 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 35-14 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Baseball was in the off-season. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out do, so the season didn't start until January 20, 1995. But there were 4 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 115-110 at the American West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors, 106-91 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, 94-89 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Indiana pacers, 99-89 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

January 14, 1973: The Dolphins Finish Undefeated

January 14, 1973: Super Bowl VII is played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. At stake for both teams was the Championship of the National Football League. At stake for one was the first such title in 30 years. At stake for the other was their first ever, and more: The NFL's 1st undefeated, untied season.

The Miami Dolphins had been founded in 1966. By 1970, they were a Playoff team. For the 1971 season, they reached Super Bowl VI, but lost it to the Dallas Cowboys, 24-3. Now, they were AFC Champions for the 1972 season, and looking for redemption.

Their head coach was also looking for it. Don Shula had been a defensive back for the Cleveland Browns between their NFL Championships of the 1950s, and for the Baltimore Colts before theirs. He became the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, building the 1st defensive line to be known as "The Fearsome Foursome." (The Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers would also use the name.)

In 1963, he was named head coach of the Colts. He got them into the 1964 NFL Championship Game, but lost to the Browns. In 1968, he won the NFL Championship Game, but lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets. He was fired after the 1969 season -- and then Don McCafferty took them all the way the next season, winning Super Bowl V.

He was hired by the Dolphins, and built what became known as "the No-Name Defense." This nickname was unfair: While only linebacker Nick Buoniconti has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, end Bill Stanfill and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott were named to that season's Pro Bowl; and tackle Manny Fernandez would also be an All-Pro.

The offense was led by quarterback Bob Griese, and had 3 good running backs: Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Eugene "Mercury" Morris. Griese had receivers Paul Warfield and Howard Twilley, plus Marlin Briscoe, who had previously been one of pro football's earliest black quarterbacks; and tight ends Marv Fleming (who had played for the Green Bay Packers' winners of Super Bowls I and II) and Jim Mandich.

Griese was protected by an offensive line that included center Jim Langer, guards Larry Little and Bob Kuechenberg, and tackles Norm Evans and Doug Crusan. And Garo Yepremian, a bald left-footer from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, was already known as one of the top placekickers in the game.

Shula, Griese, Csonka, Langer, Little, Warfield and Buoniconti have all been elected to the Hall of Fame.

And the regular season couldn't have gone any better. They opened the season by playing the 1st regular season game at Arrowhead Stadium, beating the Kansas City Chiefs, 34-13. They beat the Houston Oilers at home at the Orange Bowl, They struggled to beat the Minnesota Vikings away, 16-14, then beat the New York Jets away and the San Diego Chargers at home.

Their toughest test came at home to the Buffalo Bills, as they had trouble containing O.J. Simpson, and only won 24-23. They rebounded by shutting out the Colts away, beating the Bills 30-16 in Buffalo, and obliterating the New England Patriots 52-0.

Joe Namath and the Jets came to the Orange Bowl, where they had beaten Shula's Colts in Super Bowl III, and held the Dolphins to a 28-24 win. The 'Phins closed by beating the St. Louis Cardinals at home, the Patriots in Foxboro, the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium, and the Colts at home.

The Playoffs were a little more difficult. On Christmas Eve, they beat the Browns at home, 20-14. And on New Year's Eve, they went to Three Rivers Stadium (at the time, home field advantage for the Conference Championships was rotated, rather than given automatically based on best record), and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-17.

That set up a Super Bowl meeting with the Washington Redskins. They had won the NFL Championship in 1937 and 1942, and had lost the NFL Championship Game in 1945. But their reluctance to racially integrate -- they did not do so until 1962, after every other NFL team, every MLB and NBA team, and even 1 NHL team, the Boston Bruins, had done so -- led to a generation of struggle. They integrated, and began to improve, but still didn't make the Playoffs again until 1971.

That was the 1st season as head coach there for George Allen. Unlike Shula, he wasn't much of a player. But, like Shula, he became one of the NFL's top defensive coordinators. In 1963, the Chicago Bears won the NFL Championship and, just as Buddy Ryan as well as head coach Mike Ditka was carried off the field, it was Allen -- not the 68-year-old head coach and owner George Halas -- who was carried off the field. (Ditka was a key player on those '63 Bears.)

Allen got his 1st head coaching job with the Rams, and made them a perennial Playoff team. In 1971, looking for a permanent head coach after the death of Vince Lombardi (who had come out of his Packer retirement to take the Washington reins, and was making progress before he got sick), the Redskins hired Allen.

His idea was "The future is now." He trusted veterans more than rookies. His team became known as "The Over-the-Hill Gang." But the 1972 season proved that they weren't over the hill. Quarterback Billy Kilmer led the NFL in passer rating. The receivers he had to pass to included Charley Taylor (who would become the NFL's all-time leader in receptions), former Packer star Boyd Dowler, and star tight end Jerry Smith. Running back Larry Brown overcame a severe hearing impairment, and was named the League's Most Valuable Player.

As usual, Allen's pride was his defense. He had Verlon Biggs and Ron McDole as ends; Bill Brundige and Diron Talbert as tackles; Jack Pardee, Chris Hanburger and Harold McLinton as linebackers; Pat Fischer and Mike Bass as cornerbacks; and Richie Petitbon (one of his '63 Bears) and Brig Owens as safeties.

The Redskins went 11-3, their losses being 24-23 away to New England, and then, after they were already 11-1 and had clinched the NFC Eastern Division, 34-24 away to the Dallas Cowboys and 24-17 at home to O.J. and the Bills.

As Dick Vermeil later would as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Allen focused like a laser beam on the Cowboys, who in 1966 became the dominant team in the Division that would evolve into the NFC East. As Cowboy defensive end Harvey Martin later put it in an interview, "He had them so high, they were ready to pop. So if you're going to go in there, you better have your guns on." Pretty bold statement to make about Washington, the city where the President of the United States lives, from a man playing in Dallas, a city where a President had recently been shot and killed.

But the Redskins did hate the Cowboys. And so did their fans. The fans were hopped-up about them: The current President, Richard Nixon, made the point that, "All anybody cares about in Washington is the Redskins. Nobody cares about the Kennedy Center or the National Gallery of Art." It was true: The city had just lost baseball's Senators, basketball's Bullets and hockey's Capitals hadn't arrived yet, University of Maryland football was outside the District, and their basketball team and Georgetown's (in D.C.) hadn't yet gotten big, though that was soon in coming for the Terrapins. Sports-wise, the Redskins were it.

And on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1972, 3 hours after the Dolphins had finished off the Steelers, and a few hours before the plane crash that would kill baseball star Roberto Clemente, the NFL Films cameras caught a fan at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium wearing a Redskin helmet with a single-bar facemask, yelling at the Cowboys, "Die, you dogs, die! Die, you yellow dogs!"

Well, the Cowboys didn't die, but they were completely shut down and humiliated by the game that stood as the masterstroke in the careers of both George Allen and Billy Kilmer: Redskins 26, Cowboys 3. The Cowboys' reign as World Champions, and their 1st glory period, were over, and they went into a transition that allowed them to emerge as Super Bowl winners 5 years later.

So the Redskins were ready to derail the Dolphins' bid for an undefeated season. There was precedent: In 1942, the Bears were undefeated going into the NFL Championship Game, and the Redskins beat them. The Bears were also undefeated going into the Championship Game in 1934, and lost to the Giants.

There had been undefeated seasons in the NFL. In the 1st season, 1920, the Akron Pros went 8-0-3. In 1922, the Canton Bulldogs went 10-0-2. In 1923, the Bulldogs went 11-0-1. In 1929, the Packers went 12-0-1. But those were all before the institution of the NFL Championship Game for the 1933 season, let alone the Super Bowl for the 1966 season. So it had never been done in a full season.

Shula was outwardly calm. But he knew that he was 0-2 in Super Bowls, and had missed his chances as a player with the Browns and the Colts. And he had the flu, a fact he hid from his players, who did notice, as they said in later interviews, that he seemed "neurotic" and "absolutely crazy." Allen was similarly uptight, and accused the media of ruining his team's preparation. The players began to tell each other that they should have left him in Washington.

The year before, when the Dolphins lost Super Bowl VI to the Cowboys, it was the coldest Super Bowl to date, with a kickoff temperature of 39 degrees. (There have been Super Bowls played in domed stadiums, where it was colder than that outside, but not inside.) This time, it was 84 degrees at kickoff. Despite every Super Bowl ever played having been played either in a warm-weather city or under a dome, this remains the highest temperature in the game's history.

The Dolphins scored at the end of each of the 1st 2 quarters. At the end of the 1st, Griese threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Twilley. At the end of the 2nd, Kiick ran the ball in from 1 yard, to make it 14-0 Miami. The No-Name Defense had limited the Redskins to 72 total yards and only 4 1st downs.

In the 3rd quarter, the Redskins got to the Dolphins' 17-yard line, but Taylor stumbled, and a Kilmer pass bounced off his fingers. Fernandez then sacked Kilmer, and Curt Knight attempted a 32-yard field goal, which went wide right. A successful kick would only have made it 14-3, but it would have given the Redskins a little momentum, with plenty of time to play.

They almost scored a touchdown early in the 4th quarter. Jerry Smith was wide open in the end zone, but Kilmer's pass went awry, and hit the goalpost. (After 1 more season, the NFL moved the goalposts back 10 yards, from the goal line to the end line.) Kilmer tried again, but Scott intercepted him, and returned it 55 yards.

The Dolphins got the ball to the Redskin 34, and on 4th down, Shula thought, "What a hell of a way to remember this game." He sent Yepremian in to attempt a 42-yard field goal. So now, the team that stood to finish 17-0 stood to win 17-0. It was all so... perfect.

But Yepremian's kick was too low, and it was blocked by Brundige, and bounced back to him. Yepremian recovered it. There was still, according to the rules, a chance to gain a 1st down on the play. Brundige bore down on Yepremian, who tried to throw the ball -- with his right hand, despite kicking with his left foot.

What would have happened if he'd thrown with his left hand? We'll never know, but, throwing with his right, the ball went almost straight up, and came down, and bounced off his hands as he tried to catch it himself. Bass caught it for an interception, and he ran down the sideline, and couldn't be caught. Touchdown, Washington. Knight's extra point was good, and, with 2 minutes and 7 seconds left on the clock, it was Miami 14, Washington 7.

Now, suddenly, the game, the title, and the perfect season were all in serious jeopardy, thanks to what became known as "Garo's Gaffe." If the Dolphins didn't hang on and win this game, Yepremian would have become, at the very least, the biggest goat in the history of South Florida sports. At most, he would have become the greatest goat of all time -- the GOAT of goats.

But Allen was a conservative coach, not given to gambling, and he made a historic blunder: He had Knight kick the ball deep. Unlike Jim Haslett to begin the 2nd half for the New Orleans Saints, 37 Super Bowls later, Allen was not willing to try an onside kick, and while there's no guarantee that the 'Skins would have recovered it, it cost him the best chance at a title he would ever have as a head coach.

Instead, Allen trusted his defense, and, while he was forced to use all his timeouts, plus the 2-minute warning, it almost worked. He forced the Dolphins to punt from their own 36 with 1:14 left. But Kilmer threw 2 incompletions, lost 4 yards on a pass play, and was sacked by Vern Den Herder on the game's final play.

The game was over, and the Dolphins had their perfect season. Scott was named the game's MVP, unusual for a defensive back. The Redskins had nearly as many total yards from scrimmage as the Dolphins, and had more 1st downs and 5 minutes' more time of possession. But the Dolphins' defense had completely shut the Redskins' offense down, as Washington's only score came on special teams.

The Dolphins won their 1973 season opener, extending their winning streak to 18 straight games, and their regular-season winning streak to 16, before losing to the Oakland Raiders, in a game moved to the University of California's Memorial Stadium, due to baseball's Athletics having priority at the Oakland Coliseum. The 1973 Dolphins went 12-2, and won Super Bowl VIII, beating the Minnesota Vikings at Rice Stadium in Houston.

Over the next 11 seasons, Shula would lead them to 2 more Super Bowls, XVII and XIX, but they would lose them both. Shula got them into the 1992 AFC Championship Game, at home, but they lost to the Bills. Through the 2021 season, the Dolphins have never been back to the AFC Championship Game, much less the Super Bowl. Shula retired with 347 wins, more than any coach in NFL history, but with only 2 Super Bowl wins in 6 attempts.

The Redskins remained a contender through the 1970s, but, finally, the Over-the-Hill Gang truly got old. In the early 1980s, new coach Joe Gibbs and general manager Bobby Beathard rebuilt the team, and in 1983, they beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, winning the franchise's 1st World Championship in 40 years. They lost Super Bowl XVIII, but won Super Bowls XXII and XXVI, making it 4 appearances and 3 wins in 9 years. But they haven't been back since.

Super Bowl VII was the 2nd time the Los Angeles Coliseum had hosted the Super Bowl, after hosting the 1st in 1967. The next 5 Super Bowls to be held in the Los Angeles metropolitan area -- in calendar years 1977, 1980, 1983, 1987 and 1993 -- were held at the Rose Bowl in suburban Pasadena. The NFL instituted a policy that only metro areas with an NFL team could host a Super Bowl (albeit chosen years in advance, in the hopes of assuring a neutral site), so L.A. didn't host one for a long time. But with the restoration to the area of the Rams and the Chargers, in 2022, Super Bowl LVI will be played at the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. (UPDATE: The Los Angeles Rams became the 2nd team, after the previous year's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to win a Super Bowl on its home field.)

NBC had the rights to cover Super Bowl VII. They also had the rights to air Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. This concert was broadcast all over the world from the Honolulu International Center, now named the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, after the Mayor who got it built. The one major country on Earth that did not broadcast it live was America, because NBC thought it would be too much to ask of their viewers to watch 2 epic events in one day. So they held it back, and broadcast it on April 4, 1973. I have a separate entry for that concert.

UPDATE: The Miami Dolphins have a Ring of Honor. From their 1972 and 1973 NFL Champions, they have honored quarterback Don Shula, running back Larry Csonka, receiver Paul Warfield, tight end Jim Mandich, center Jim Langer, guards Larry Little and Bob Kuecheberg, defensive end Bill Stanfill, defensive tackler Manny Fernandez, linebacker Nick Buoniconti, safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott, head coach Don Shula, defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger, and founding owner Joe Robbie. Griese, Csonka, Little, Warfield, Moore, Buoniconti, Anderson, Shula and Robbie have been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. So have backup quarterback Earl Morrall and kicker Garo Yepremian.

From their 1982 and 1984 AFC Champions, they have honored Shula, Robbie, quarterback Dan Marino; receivers Nat Moore, Mark Clayton and Mark Duper; center Dwight Stephenson, defensive tackle Bob Baumhower, defensive end Doug Betters. Marino and Stephenson have been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

From after that last Super Bowl appearance, they have honored 1986s linebacker John Offerdahl, 1990s defensive tackle Tim Bowens, 2000s defensive end Jason Taylor, and 2000s linebacker Zach Thomas. Thomas has been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. So have former owner Wayne Huizenga and former coach Jimmy Johnson.

The Redskins also have a Ring of Honor. From their 1972-73 "Over the Hill Gang," they have elected quarterbacks Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer, running back Larry Brown, receiver Charley Taylor, tight end Jerry Smith, center Len Hauss, linebacker Chris Hanburger; cornerbacks Big Owens, Pat Fischer and Mike Bass; safety Richie Petitbon (elected more for his later coaching service); team owner Jack Kent Cooke, head coach George Allen, executive Bobby Mitchell, trainer Bubba Tyer, public address announcer Phil Hochberg; and former linebacker, turned broadcaster, Sam Huff.

Vince Lombardi, who was head coach only in 1969 before dying of cancer, has also been elected. So has safety Ken Houston, who arrived the next season, but didn't make it to their 1982-83 title. Each of those have also been elected to the Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame. So has the team's owner at that point, Edward Bennett Williams.

*

January 14, 1973 was a Sunday. Obviously, there were no other football games played that day. Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 86-84 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 102-100 at The Omni in Atlanta. Jerry Wes scored 37 points for the Lakers.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls, 100-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 35 points and 17 rebounds.

* And the Baltimore Bullets beat the Phoenix Suns, 95-94 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

There were 2 games played in the American Basketball Association. The Carolina Cougars beat the Memphis Tams, 104-100 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. And the Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 100-97 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

There were 7 games played in the NHL that day: 

* The New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The New York Islanders, in their 1st year of play, lost to the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-0 at the Boston Garden.

* The other expansion team, the Atlanta Flames, beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at The Omni in Atlanta. This building, in its 1st season, hosted both the NBA and the NHL on this day.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Black Hawks and the California Golden Seals played to a tie, 6-6 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Minnesota North Stars were not scheduled.

And the World Hockey Association, in its 1st season, played 2 games that day. The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Ottawa Nationals, 3-2 in overtime at the St. Paul Civic Center. And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 3-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.