Super Bowl VII

Host selection process The NFL awarded Super Bowl VII to Los Angeles on March 21, 1972, at the owners' meetings held in Honolulu. For the first time, multiple Super Bowl sites were selected at a single meeting, as hosts for both VII and VIII were named. Five cities, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Dallas, and New Orleans, prepared serious bids, while San Francisco (Stanford Stadium) withdrew from the running a week prior to the vote. After nine deadlocked votes, Oilers owner Bud Adams recommended awarding two consecutive sites. This compromise mirrored an idea brought up in 1971 by representatives from Miami. Los Angeles won on the ninth ballot, while second place Houston was named the host for VIII. In order to accommodate the game, the Pro Bowl was shifted from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to Texas Stadium for 1973. Miami Dolphins The Dolphins went undefeated during the season, despite losing their starting quarterback. In the fifth game of the regular season, starter Bob Griese suffered a fractured right leg and dislocated ankle. In his place, 38-year-old Earl Morrall, a 17-year veteran, led Miami to victory in their nine remaining regular season games, and was the 1972 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Morrall had previously played for Dolphins head coach Don Shula when they were both with the Baltimore Colts, where Morrall backed up quarterback Johnny Unitas and started in Super Bowl III. But Miami also had the same core group of young players who had helped the team advance to the previous year's Super Bowl VI. (The only Dolphins starter in Super Bowl VII over the age of 30 was 32-year-old Nick Buoniconti.) The Dolphins still had a powerful running attack, spearheaded by running backs Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Eugene "Mercury" Morris. (Morris, who in previous seasons had been used primarily as a kick returner, took over the starting halfback position from Kiick, who had been the starter the previous four years. However, the more-experienced Kiick would start in Super Bowl VII.) Csonka, who had the best season of his career, led the team with 1,117 yards and six touchdowns. Kiick contributed 521 yards and five touchdowns, and also caught 21 passes for 147 yards and another touchdown. Morris, a breakaway runner, rushed for exactly 1,000 yards, caught 15 passes for 168 yards, added another 334 yards returning kickoffs, and scored a league-leading 12 rushing touchdowns. Overall, Miami set a record with 2,960 total rushing yards during the regular season, and became the first team ever to have two players rush for 1,000 yards in one season. Miami led the NFL in points scored (385). Since 1972, only six other teams have had two 1,000 yard rushers in the same backfield, but the Dolphins are the only one of those seven to make it to and win the Super Bowl. Receiver Paul Warfield once again provided the run-based Dolphins with an effective deep-threat option, catching 29 passes for 606 yards, an average of 20.9 yards per catch. Miami's offensive line, led by undrafted future Hall of Famers Jim Langer and Larry Little, was also a key factor in the Dolphins' offensive production. Miami's "No-Name Defense" (a nickname inspired by Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry when he could not recall the names of any Dolphins defenders just before Super Bowl VI), led by future Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, allowed the fewest points in the league during the regular season (171), and ranked second in the NFL with 26 interceptions. Safety Jake Scott recorded five interceptions, while Lloyd Mumphord had four picks and safety Dick Anderson had three interceptions and led the NFL with five fumble recoveries. Because of injuries to defensive linemen (at the beginning of the season the Dolphins were down to four healthy players at the position), defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger created what he called the "53" defense, in which the versatile Bob Matheson (number 53) would be used as either a defensive end in the standard 4–3 defense or as a fourth linebacker in a 3–4 defense, with Manny Fernandez at nose tackle. As a linebacker, Matheson would either rush or drop back into coverage. Said Nick Buoniconti, "Teams would be totally confused." Linebacker Doug Swift was also a playmaker with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Dolphins' undefeated, untied regular season was the third in NFL history, and the first of the post-merger era. The previous two teams to do so, the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears, both lost the NFL Championship game. Later, the 2007 New England Patriots became the 4th team to complete an undefeated and untied regular season, but lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The Cleveland Browns also completed a perfect season in 1948, including a league championship, while part of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), but until April 1, 2025, this feat was recognized only by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, since the NFL did not officially recognize any AAFC records. Washington Redskins Following the death of Redskins head coach Vince Lombardi 17 days prior to the start of the 1970 season, Washington finished 6–8 under interim coach Bill Austin. Shortly after the conclusion of the 1970 season, the Redskins hired George Allen as their head coach, hoping he could turn the team's fortunes around. Allen's philosophy was that veteran players win games, so immediately after taking over the team, he traded away most of the younger team members and draft choices for older, more established players. His motto was "The future is now." Washington quickly became the oldest team in the NFL and earned the nickname "The Over-the-Hill Gang." The average age of starters was 31 years old. However, Allen's strategy turned the Redskins around, as the team improved to a 9–4–1 record in 1971, and finished the 1972 season with an NFC-best 11–3 record. Washington was led by 33-year-old quarterback Billy Kilmer, who completed 120 out of 225 passes for 1,648 yards and a league-leading 19 touchdowns during the regular season, with only 11 interceptions, giving him an NFL-best 84.8 passer rating. Kilmer had started the first three games of the season, was replaced in Game 4 by 38-year-old Sonny Jurgensen, then replaced Jurgensen when he was lost for the season with an Achilles tendon injury. The Redskins' powerful rushing attack featured two backs. Larry Brown gained 1,216 yards (first in the NFC and second in the NFL, behind only O. J. Simpson's 1,251 rushing yards) on 285 carries during the regular season, caught 32 passes for 473 yards and scored 12 touchdowns, earning him both the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. Charley Harraway ran for 567 yards on 148 carries. Future Hall of Fame wide receiver Charley Taylor and wide receiver Roy Jefferson provided the team with a solid deep threat, combining for 84 receptions, 1,223 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Veteran tight end Jerry Smith added 21 receptions for 353 yards and 7 touchdowns. Washington also had a solid defense led by linebacker Chris Hanburger (four interceptions, 98 return yards, one touchdown) and cornerbacks Pat Fischer (four interceptions, 61 return yards) and Mike Bass (three interceptions, 53 return yards) Playoffs Morrall led the Dolphins to a 20–14 playoff win over the Cleveland Browns. However, Griese started the second half of the AFC Championship Game to help rally the Dolphins to a 21–17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. A fake punt by Miami's Larry Seiple made the difference. Meanwhile, the Redskins advanced to the Super Bowl without having allowed a touchdown in either their 16–3 playoff win over the Green Bay Packers or their crushing 26–3 NFC Championship Game victory over the Cowboys, the defending Super Bowl champions. Super Bowl pregame news and notes Much of the pregame hype surrounded the chances of the Dolphins completing a perfect, undefeated season, as well as their quarterback controversy between Griese and Morrall. Griese was eventually picked to start the Super Bowl because Shula felt more comfortable with Morrall as the backup just in case Griese was ineffective following his recent inactivity. Miami was also strongly motivated to win the Super Bowl after having been humiliated by the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI. Wrote Nick Buoniconti, "There was no way we were going to lose the Super Bowl; there was no way." Still, many favored the Redskins to win the game because of their group of "Over the Hill Gang" veterans, and because Miami had what some considered an easy schedule (only two opponents, Kansas City and the New York Giants, posted winning records, and both of those teams were 8–6 and missed the playoffs). This is reflected in the regular season standings where Miami ended the regular season 7 games in front of the New York Jets in the AFC East while Washington barely won the NFC East winning the division over the Dallas Cowboys by one game. and had struggled in the playoffs. In the playoffs, Miami trailed in the second half of both contests needing a 4th quarter comeback against the Browns in the Divisional round and a quarterback change in the AFC Championship against the Steelers. Washington easily beat their playoff opponents holding both to a field goal. Allen had a reputation for spying on opponents. A school overlooked the Rams facility that the NFL designated as the Dolphins practice field, so the Dolphins found a more secure field at a local community college. Dolphins employees inspected the trees every day for spies. Miami cornerback Tim Foley, a future broadcaster who was injured and would not play in Super Bowl VII, was writing daily stories for a Miami newspaper and interviewed George Allen and his players, provoking charges from Allen that Foley was actually spying for Shula. Allen was extremely uptight and prickly dealing with the press Super Bowl week, and accused the press of ruining his team's preparation. Allen pushed the team so hard in practices that the players joked among themselves that they should have left Allen in Washington. During practice the day before Super Bowl VII, the Dolphins' 5'7" 150-pound kicker, Garo Yepremian, relaxed by throwing 30-yard passes to Dave Shula, Don Shula's son. During the pregame warmups, he consistently kicked low line drives and couldn't figure out why. This was the first Super Bowl in which neither coach wore a tie. Shula wore a coat and tie for Super Bowl VI, but wore a white short-sleeved polo shirt for this game, as did Allen. For Super Bowl VIII, Shula would wear a sport coat, but with a shirt underneath that was similar to the one he wore in Super Bowl VII. This was the warmest Super Bowl on record with a kickoff temperature of . The American flag in the east end of the Coliseum flew at half-mast in memory of former President Harry S. Truman, who died December 26, 1972. Richard Nixon declared the traditional 30-day mourning period following the death of a president later that day. ==Broadcasting==

The game was broadcast in the United States by NBC with play-by-play announcer Curt Gowdy, color commentator Al DeRogatis and sideline reporter Bill Enis; who also covered the Trophy presentation, with other contributors including Kyle Rote. This was Enis' final Super Bowl telecast before his death on December 14, 1973, as well as Rote's last Super Bowl before leaving broadcasting and DeRogatis' first Super Bowl as lead color commentator (and only Super Bowl as the solo analyst). This was the first Super Bowl to be televised live in the city in which it was being played, via NBC's flagship station in Los Angeles, KNBC (Channel 4). Despite unconditional blackout rules in the NFL that normally would have prohibited the live telecast from being shown locally, the NFL allowed the game to be telecast in the Los Angeles area on an experimental basis when all tickets for the game were sold. The league then changed its blackout rules the following season to allow any game sold out at least 72 hours in advance to be televised in the host market. No subsequent Super Bowl has ever been blacked out under this rule, as all have been sold out (owing to its status as the marquee event on the NFL schedule, meaning that tickets sell out quickly). Because of Super Bowl VII, NBC was forced to delay its broadcast of Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii concert, which took place the same day and was intended to be broadcast around the world live. NBC eventually re-edited the concert and aired it later that April. This game is featured on ''NFL's Greatest Games'' under the title "17–0". ==Entertainment==

The pregame show was a tribute to Apollo 17, the sixth and last mission to land on the Moon and the final one of Project Apollo. The show featured the Michigan Marching Band and the crew of Apollo 17 who exactly one month earlier had been the final humans to date to leave the Moon. The Apollo 17 crew also recited the final Pledge of Allegiance in Super Bowl history. Later, the Little Angels of Chicago's Angels Church from Chicago performed the national anthem. ==Halftime show==

The halftime show, featured Woody Herman and the Michigan Marching Band along with The Citrus College Singers and Andy Williams, was titled "Happiness Is". The show was produced by Tommy Walker. Setlist Partial setlist: • "Put on a Happy Face" (University of Michigan Marching Band) • "Woodchopper's Ball" (University of Michigan Marching Band with Woody Herman) • "La Virgen de la Macarena" (University of Michigan Marching Band) • "This Land Is Your Land" (University of Michigan Marching Band) • "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" (Andy Williams) • "People" (Andy Williams) ==Game summary==

According to Shula, the Dolphins' priority on defense was to stop Larry Brown and force Billy Kilmer to pass. Buoniconti looked at Washington's offensive formation on each play and shifted the defense so it was strongest where he felt Brown would run. They also intended to shut down Paul Warfield by double-covering him. With a game-time kickoff temperature of , this is the warmest Super Bowl to date. It came the year after the coldest game in Super Bowl VI which registered a temperature at kickoff of . Miami then started this drive on their own 37-yard line with 2:55 left in the first quarter. Running back Jim Kiick started out the drive with two carries for 11 yards. Then quarterback Bob Griese completed an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Paul Warfield to reach the Washington 34-yard line. After two more running plays, Griese threw a 28-yard touchdown pass (his longest completion of the game) to wide receiver Howard Twilley for his only catch of the game. Twilley fooled cornerback Pat Fischer by faking a route to the inside, then broke to the outside and caught the ball at the 5-yard line, dragging Fischer with him into the end zone. "Griese read us real good all day", said Fischer. who blocked on field goals. Unfortunately for Miami, the ball slipped out of his hands and went straight up in the air. Yepremian attempted to bat the ball out of bounds, Garo Yepremian was a longtime Republican supporter and friend of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush but made the trip anyway and had an amusing exchange with President Obama over his long-ago bumble in the game. Box score ==Final statistics==

Sources:''The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History of Professional Football'', (1973), p. 153, Macmillan Publishing Co. New York, LCCN 73-3862, NFL.com Super Bowl VII, Super Bowl VII Play Finder Mia, Super Bowl VII Play Finder Was Statistical comparison Individual statistics 1Completions/attempts 2Carries 3Long gain 4Receptions 5Times targeted Records set The following records were set or tied in Super Bowl VII, according to the official NFL.com boxscore and the ProFootball reference.com game summary. The minimums are shown (in parentheses). ==Starting lineups==

• Referee: Tom Bell #7 second Super Bowl (III) • Umpire: Lou Palazzi #51 second Super Bowl (IV) • Head linesman: Tony Veteri Sr. #36 second Super Bowl (II) • Line judge: Bruce Alford #24 second Super Bowl (II) • Back judge: Tom Kelleher #25 second Super Bowl (IV) • Field judge: Tony Skover #50 first (and only) Super Bowl • Alternate referee: Fred Silva #81, first Super Bowl, also alternate for Super Bowl IX; later worked Super Bowl XIV on field • Alternate umpire: Walt Parker #41 second Super Bowl (III), first as an alternate Note: A seven-official system was not used until 1978. Back judge and field judge swapped titles prior to the 1998 NFL season. ==Super Bowl postgame news==

As Shula was being carried off the field after the end of the game, a kid who shook his hand stripped off his watch. Shula got down, chased after the kid, and retrieved his watch. Manny Fernandez was a strong contender for MVP. Wrote Nick Buoniconti, "It was the game of his life–in fact, it was the most dominant game by a defensive lineman in the history of the game, and he would never be given much credit for it. They should have given out two game balls and made Manny Fernandez the co-MVP with Jake Scott." The MVP was selected by Dick Schaap, the editor of SPORT magazine. Schaap admitted later that he had been out late the previous night, struggled to watch the defense-dominated game, and was not aware that Fernandez had 17 tackles. When Garo Yepremian went back to the Dolphins' sideline after his botched field goal attempt, Nick Buoniconti told him that if they lost he would "Hang you up by one of your ties." But Yepremian would be so traumatized by his botched attempt that he had to be helped from the post-game party by his brother because of a stress-induced stabbing pain down his right side. Depressed, he spent two weeks in seclusion until he was cheered up by a letter, apparently from Shula, praising him for his contributions to the team and urging him to ignore criticism. Yepremian kept the letter and mentioned it to Shula in 2000, but Shula had no knowledge of it. They concluded the letter was actually written by Shula's wife Dorothy, who died from breast cancer in 1991. She had signed her husband's name to it. Nevertheless, "Garo's Gaffe" made Yepremian famous and led to a lucrative windfall of speaking engagements and endorsements. "It's been a blessing", said Yepremian, who died in 2015. The same teams met 10 years later in Super Bowl XVII, which was also played in the Los Angeles area, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Redskins won that game, 27–17. Two starters from Miami's undefeated team, guard Bob Kuechenberg and defensive end Vern Den Herder, were still active during the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Redskins had no players remaining from Super Bowl VII on their Super Bowl XVII roster. The last member of the 1972 Redskins still active with the franchise, offensive tackle Terry Hermeling, retired after the 1980 season. Redskins linebacker and defensive captain Jack Pardee retired immediately following this game, ending a 16-year career. He coached the Chicago Bears for three seasons (1975–77) before succeeding Allen as Redskins coach in 1978. Pardee was fired following a 6–10 campaign in 1980 and was replaced by Joe Gibbs, who led the Redskins to three Super Bowl championships (XVII, XXII, XXVI) and 171 victories to earn induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After coaching the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League in 1984 and '85, Pardee coached at the University of Houston (1987–89) and the Houston Oilers (1990–94). The Miami Dolphins became the second team to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous year. They were the last team to do so until the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. ==Notes==