Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami, Florida Metropolitan Area. They play home games in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens at Dolphin Stadium, about 15 miles from Downtown Miami. more...

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They are headquarted at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility in Davie, Florida. The Dolphins are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins began play in the American Football League as an expansion team in 1966, they were founded by Joseph Robbie, and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger. The Dolphins are the oldest major-league professional sports franchise in the state of Florida. They are owned by Wayne Huizenga.

The team made its first Super Bowl appearance following the 1971 season in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. In 1972, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season to date in the Super Bowl era, winning all 14 regular season games, two playoff games and Super Bowl VII. The team also won Super Bowl VIII, becoming the first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, and the second team (first AFL/AFC team) to win back-to-back championships. Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.

For most of their history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the winningest head coach in professional football history. His Dolphins teams posted losing records in only 2 of his 26 seasons with the club. Six future Hall of Fame members played for Miami during the 1970s, including running back Larry Csonka and quarterback Bob Griese. During the 1980s and 1990s quarterback Dan Marino became the most prolific passer in NFL history, breaking numerous league passing records. He led the Dolphins to numerous playoff appearances and Super Bowl XIX.

The Miami Dolphins are the only current National Football League team to have never suffered two consecutive losing seasons while members of the NFL.

History

Miami joined the American Football League (AFL) when an expansion team franchise was awarded to lawyer Joseph Robbie and actor Danny Thomas in 1965 for $7.5 million, although Thomas would eventually sell his stake in the team to Robbie. A contest was held in 1965 to find the name of the new Miami franchise for the American Football League. 19,843 entries were submitted with over a thousand different names. A dozen finalists were screened through by a seven-member committee made up of the local media, names considered included the Mariners, Marauders, Mustangs, Missiles, Moons, Sharks, and Suns. The winning name, "Dolphins," was submitted by 622 entrants. Mrs. Robert Swanson of West Miami won lifetime passes to Dolphin games when her nickname entry successfully predicted the winner and score of the 1965 football game between Notre Dame and the University of Miami, a scoreless tie.

Read more at Wikipedia.org