Perfection: The Inside Story of the 1972 Miami Dolphins' Perfect Season - Hardcover

Griese, Bob; Hyde, Dave

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118218094 ISBN 13: 9781118218099

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2012

Synopsis

The inside story of the only undefeated team in NFL history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins—by the Hall of Fame quarterback who led it to victory

Hall of Fame quarterback and long-time ABC college football announcer Bob Griese is a living football legend. Now, on the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Miami Dolphins' incredible championship season, Griese tells the behind-the-scenes story of the team both on and off the field as it achieved a feat no other team has ever succeeded in matching: perfection.

You'll see Griese shocked in his first meeting with Joe Robbie as the Dolphins owner balanced big contract figures and a staggering number of drinks. You'll hear Griese meeting Don Shula for the first time and being ordered to start staying in the pass pocket rather than scrambling. ""Build me a pocket and I'll stay in it,' Griese told Shula. You'll understand the friendship and on-field relationship developed between Griese and Paul Warfield after they became the Dolphins' first inter-racial roommates.

You'll follow Griese through a storied season that began with him wondering just how good the Dolphins actually were and ended with him awarding the game ball in the winning Super Bowl locker room. Along the way you'll hear:

• How Shula implemented and Griese embraced the first use of situation substitution in the NFL and the controversy it caused in a backfield of Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris
• The lengths to which NFL players of that era kept themselves on the field, including regular trips from the hospital bed to the playing field
• Insight and anecdotes from Hall of Fame players Warfield, Csonka, Nick Buoniconti, Jim Langer, and Larry Little as well as Griese

Packed with behind-the-scenes drama and on-the-field excitement, Perfection is a book every football fan will want to read.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

1972 was the year of the Dolphin. The Miami team did what no other has done, before or since: they won every regular-season game and followed that feat with a perfect playoff run and a Super Bowl championship.

In Perfection, Bob Griese tells the story of that magical season as only he can. Rather than providing a play-by-play analysis of every game in that incredible streak, the Hall of Fame quarterback who led the team creates vivid portraits of the teammates who made outstanding contributions in each game. Some are insightful character studies, others rise to the level of mini- biographies. Taken together, these compelling, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious stories reveal the many factors that turn a first-rate team into an unbeatable one, the most important being a constant and unrelenting obsession with winning.

This tale of triumph actually begins with a crushing defeat: the Dolphins' 24–3 loss to Roger Staubach and the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI. No team had ever scored so few points in the big game. Whether out of anger, embarrassment, or frustration, every Dolphin, from Coach Don Shula on down, found plenty of motivational fuel in that loss.

That motivation fostered an obsession with winning that showed itself in the season opener. At the end of the third quarter on a sweltering Kansas City afternoon, tackle Larry Little led the entire lumbering offensive line on a sixty-yard sprint to the spot where the fourth quarter would begin. His purpose was to intimidate the Chiefs, who were wilting in the heat and humidity. It worked.

Among the many memorable scenes in this unforgettable memoir are Larry Csonka letting blood from his oft-broken nose drip onto teammates' feet during huddles; Paul Warfield demonstrating, literally step by step, the pass-reception patterns he ran for each play so that Griese would know where to find him; and tag-team halfbacks Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris constantly lobbying Shula for more playing time. Griese writes with admiration about backup quarterback Earl Morrall, who maintained the winning streak after Griese's leg was broken in game five. He clearly means it when he describes Morrall as the most underrated quarterback in NFL history. Griese also discusses some of the less attractive aspects of the game, including racial tensions in the 1970s NFL. He recalls the massive doses of painkillers needed to keep players on the field and describes the lingering effects of trauma that many of his teammates suffer from today.

Complete with a raucous account of why Dolphins owner Joe Robbie was assigned a chaperone midway through the season, Perfection is catnip for Dolphins fans, ambrosia for football fans, and pure joy for anyone who loves a behind-the-scenes peek at the NFL.

From the Back Cover:

Raise a Glass to the 40th Anniversary of the Dolphins' Perfect Season

They were as tough to bring down as Larry Csonka. Now, on the fortieth anniversary of the 1972 Miami Dolphins' incredible championship victory, Griese tells the inside story of the team both on and off the field as it achieved a feat no other team has ever succeeded in matching: perfection.

About this edition

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1118218094
• ISBN 13: 9781118218099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272