Super Bowl VII On NFL Network

[sport historian]

On Saturday April 10, the NFL Network is showing the NBC broadcast of Super Bowl VII between the Dolphins and Redskins. The Dolphins were 14-0 in 1972 plus two wins in the AFC playoffs. Despite this, The Redskins were favored.

 

[foreverfree]

Someone on another mb once suggested that WAS was favored because the Fins weren't taken seriously due to their roots in the AFL, which by the '72 season no longer existed (due to merger with the NFL) but which remained fresh in the memory of some old school NFL types who still regarded the "rebel" league as low quality football, SB's III and IV not withstanding.

John

 

[sport historian]

Someone on another mb once suggested that WAS was favored because the Fins weren't taken seriously due to their roots in the AFL, which by the '72 season no longer existed (due to merger with the NFL) but which remained fresh in the memory of some old school NFL types who still regarded the "rebel" league as low quality football, SB's III and IV not withstanding.

John

Yes, that was true. Also, the Redskins had beaten the Packers and Cowboys by large margins in the NFC playoffs while the Dolphins struggled to beat the Browns who were considered on the way down. Miami then won a close game at Pittsburgh against a Steeler team on the rise.

 

[sport historian]

I just watched it. The game was even duller than I remembered. Jim Kiick and Howard Twilley played more than Mercury Morris and Marlin Briscoe, which meant the Dolphins had 18 white players out of 22 most of the game. This is even with cornerback Tim Foley out with an injury.

In the 4th quarter, the Redskins used up 8 minutes on the clock trailing by 14. McNabb couldn't have done much worse.

As everyone recalls, the most exciting play was Garo Yepremian's attempted pass after having a FG blocked which was run back for a TD making it 14-7 with 2 minutes left. This FG attempt was set up when Dolphin free safety Jake Scott intercepted Billy Kilmer in the end zone and ran it back nearly 70 yards.

Kilmer had a bad game. If Sonny Jurgensen hadn't been out with an injury, the Redskins would have gone to him. Upon receiving a new car as Super Bowl MVP, Jake Scott said something like, "I thank Billy Kilmer for making this award possible."

 

[white is right]

Are these games complete broadcasts or highlights of the game?

 

[Don Wassall]

I think it was the complete broadcast but speeded up at times between plays, though I only watched most of the second half.

Yes, the Redskins had a poor offensive game and game plan. But I enjoyed watching it not only because of all the white players, but because Curt Gowdy did a very nice job of calling the plays with little to no Caste-speak. There weren't constant stoppages for replay challenges, sumos weren't constantly moving before the snap, and the phenomenon of blacks sprawling on the field, feigning a serious injury a half dozen times a game hadn't begun yet.

There was almost no mention of the Dolphins being undefeated, it was just a much cleaner, hype-free game without thenon-stop bombardment of scores, mostly meaningless stats, and promos for an endless stream of shows and corporations that we get now.Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[GWTJ]

The Dolphins were said to have had an easy schedule that season. But as Larry Csonka said, "Easy schedule my ass, in the NFL no schedule is easy. We just made it look easy."

The Dolphins were overlooked that year. They were 1st in points scored, 1st in points allowed and 2nd in turnover ratio.

The Redskins went into that game with one of the best defenses in the NFL and the Player of the Year in RB Larry Brown. But the No Name Defense became the household name after that game.

Despite the Dolphins white friendly roster and dominating performance that year, the NFL awards that year were given out almost exclusively to black players. Only Jake Scott(Super Bowl MVP) and Earl Morrall(NFL Comeback Player of the Year) won awards. Edited by: GWTJ

 

[sport historian]

I think it was the complete broadcast but speeded up at times between plays, though I only watched most of the second half. 
<div> </div>
<div>Yes, the Redskins had a poor offensive game and game plan.  But I enjoyed watching it not only because of all the white players, but because Curt Gowdy did a very nice job of calling the plays with little to no Caste-speak.  There weren't constant stoppages for replay challenges, sumos weren't constantly moving before the snap, and the phenomenon of blacks sprawling on the field, feigning a serious injury a half dozen times a game hadn't begun yet.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>There was almost no mention of the Dolphins being undefeated, it was just a much cleaner, hype-free game without the non-stop bombardment of scores, mostly meaningless stats, and promos for an endless stream of shows and corporations that we get now.</div>

As Don says, Curt Gowdy was a lot easier to listen to than today's announcers and it was speeded up between plays. This was the era of zone pass defense before the 1978 rules changes led to the explosion of passing stats.

You didn't seen the dancing displays after an ordinary play. That began in earnest a few years later. When Redskin CB Mike Bass grabbed Garo Yepremian's pass-bobble out of the air and ran for a TD, he just tossed the ball to the referee.

The NFL Network has shown the original broadcast of Super Bowl III. The broadcast of the first two Super Bowls no longer exists, only what NFL Films has. I have read that only a little of Super Bowl V survives and Super Bowl IV only in a black and white broadcast.

My understanding is that the Super Bowl TV broadcasts starting with Super Bowl VI all exist. CBS didn't start saving broadcasts until 1977. Aside from the "Hail Mary" Cowboy-Viking 1975 NFC playoff game and the Super Bowls, most original broadcasts no longer exist.

You can learn more about how the game was played from these "you are there" broadcasts than from the NFL films shows with the undending slow-motion that Sabol & company love.

 

[sport historian]

One of the story lines going in was Don Shula's reputation for not winning the big ones, especially Super Bowl III as Colt coach. In 1972 that was how Shula was seen. Along with this, Carroll Rosenbloom, who had owned the Colts when they lost Super Bowl III to the Jets was still angry at Shula for breaking his contract in Baltimore and going to Miami. During the week leading up to Super Bowl VII, Rosenbloom said, "I've seen Shula freeze up on the sidelines in big games."

Redskin coach George Allen complained all week about the "distractions" caused by the Super Bowl hype. Allen complained so much about "distractions" that his team was distracted.

On looking at the broadcast again tonight, Billy Kilmer's poor game was the major factor. You need your QB to come up big to win the Super Bowl.