Seventeen and Oh: Miami, 1972, and the NFL's Only Perfect Season

The 1972 Miami Dolphins remain fifty years later… the only single season undefeated team in NFL history! The author takes you back to that generation and years leading up to it in a manner that is educational… as well as entertaining… for both fans that lived through that time… and the many that have not. Action on the field and off is covered in excruciating detail. Not only of each game… but what made the team grow to the historical level they accomplished with the arrival of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula… whose practices alone made seasoned NFL players feel like they had never been in the pro’s before. Some whined and complained under their breath… eliciting the following statement from Coach Shula: “IF IT’S TOO TOUGH FOR YOU, PACK UP AND GO HOME, WE DON’T WANT QUITTERS.”Simultaneous to the “BATTAAN-DEATH-MARCH-PRACTICES”… and victory after victory in the regular season and beyond… the author synergistically weaves a constant tale of worldwide events… from Miami to Viet Nam and back. The fact that both the Democrat and Republican Conventions were being held in Miami… Viet Nam bombings… peace talks… protests… and the Watergate break in… among other historical events were playing out concurrently… and the author never misses a beat on all of it… is a master stroke.Additionally the author interjects great biographical backgrounds of the Dolphin players that are famous and non-famous fifty years later. The player historical flashbacks are wonderfully done to where you learn what made them who they are…both mentally and physically. The fact that the Dolphins were such an unlikely mix of liberals and conservatives… flakes… and intellectuals… blacks and whites… makes the background reporting so important... and yet it never… ever… slows down… even for a moment… the full speed ahead locomotive of historical NFL victories!With all those “tasty” literary ingredients being mixed like a world class chef… the author Marshall Jon Fisher… dares to take it to even a higher level… by taking the chance of also adding his families moving to Miami in August 1966 from New York just in time for the birth of the Miami Dolphins… to his burgeoning literary master piece… and succeeds. All true fans will relate to the family falling in love with “THEIR” team… and in the days of local blackouts… or televised games… Father and sons… rushing out to the backyard during halftime… to reenact their hero’s maneuvers… and then scampering to get back in the house in time for the second half kickoff.In addition to the non-football world events that will remind you of a different world… the accepted behavior regarding the health of players… will almost make you think its science fiction or the caveman times. From Xylocaine Cocktails… to playing with so many concussions… a person with no concussions couldn’t keep an accurate count of how many were ignored to keep players on the field.Football was extremely different in those days… it isn’t like today… where many former players (and I agree) say they should put a skirt on the quarterback the way the NFL protects them. One of my favorite players from the time he was at Syracuse University was LARRY CSONKA… and I would like to share with you… a statement from Hall of Fame coach Don Shula about “ZONK”… that to me… means as much as a Hall of Fame Plaque. “I LIKE TO RUN WHERE THERE ARE HOLES,” SAID JIM KIICK, “LARRY LIKES TO RUN WHERE THERE ARE PEOPLE.” EVERY OLD DOLPHINS FAN HAS AN IMAGE IN HIS MIND OF LARRY CSONKA FIGHTING THROUGH THE BODY-STREWN CENTER OF THE FIELD, CARRYING ONE OR TWO OPPONENTS ON HIS BACK OR LEGS AS HE STRAINS FORWARD FOR ONE EXTRA YARD. AFTER WATCHING ONE SUCH SCENE ON THE 1971 HIGHLIGHT REEL—ZONK TAKING TWO HITS AND FIGHTING HIS WAY OVER THE GOAL LINE, THEN LOOKING UP, HIS HELMET ASKEW, SWEAT AND MUD DRIPPING OFF HIS NOSE GUARD, SHOWING NO EMOTION AS HE FLIPS THE BALL TO THE REF-- **SHULA CALLED IT “THE VERY IMAGE OF MANHOOD.”**AMEN BROTHER (FROM THE REVIEWER)There are so many classic quotes from all these historical figures… but one little factoid that won’t be in the NFL record book… but it impressed me enough that I would like to share it with the world… is the following: Dolphin player JAKE SCOTT ON A WAGER, DOWNED FORTY-THREE BEERS IN ONE SITTING! That could be up there right next to the Dolphins winning Seventeen straight and winning the Super Bowl in one incredible… record breaking season!This is a greatly written… and mixed… story of the only undefeated team in NFL history… and the time in the world that it occurred!

I do not always enjoy sports stories, but this one is well written and adds much to see the cultural evolution of Miami in an era of great change. Miami is experiencing another one of those moments as its visibility internationally and so many newcomers make themselves part of the story of a city that continues to reinvent itself. Viva Miami!

I previously read Fisher's excellent book on tennis, "A Terrible Splendor," and really enjoyed it. So when I saw he published "Seventeen and Oh," I wanted to check it out. And it's another terrific, well-researched book. Like Fisher, I was a kid too during that '72 season, and although I wasn't a Dolphins' fan growing up in Miami like Fisher was, he took me back in time and place in a vivid way. Shula, Griese, Morrall, Csonka, Kiick, Fernandez, Warfield, Morris, the whole crew. And what an incredible, undefeated season. I enjoyed all the back stories, details, and general context Fisher provided, even if it was sad to read about all those great players' physical decline in recent years. More than once, I checked out YouTube clips because his wonderful description of some play made me curious. Fisher is an excellent writer, so even if you only have a passing interest in the Dolphins or in football, I recommend the book. It's a great story, well-told.

Whether or not you are a football fan, whether or not you have an interest in early 1970s national politics or the growth and development of the Miami area, this book is first rate and thoroughly enjoyable. If you are a football fan, you won't want to put it down.Fisher is remarkable in his research and story-telling. The anecdotes are non-stop and his mini-biographies of so many of the Dolphins players (the Hall-of -Famers and the not-so famous members of the cast) are woven into the main fabric of the story seamlessly.Fisher also weaves in a look at the national politics of the day - Miami was home to both the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1972 and President Nixon spent much of the year at his "White House South" compound not far from Miami. And, as is well-known, he was a football fanatic. The descriptions of the history of Miami and the social, cultural, economic changes to the city and South Florida add another interesting flavor to the book.Add in that Fisher grew up in Miami and lived through those glory years on the football and the growing years off it gives book an extra dash of authenticity.I am a former writer and editor, mostly for newspapers, and without sounding arrogant, I do know good when I read it and Mr. Fisher has the goods. Perfect. Just like the Dolphins in 1972.

When the author sticks to the subject matter, the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, his work is excellent. But please, leave the left-leaning bias towards the politics of the day aside, as it erodes the credibilty of the football reporting.

Good insight into the epic 1972 Dolphins, a perfection blend of high draft choices and undrafted free agents. The Dolphins were even better in 1973. Then came the defections.NFL salaries were much lower, author cites some of their salaries, describes half the team renting apartments and working at off-season jobs, but he never provides perspective of what salaries non-athletes earned. In those days we all figured pro athletes were well paid.Unfortunately, book elaborates tedious details about Nixon, Watergate, McGovern & Viet Nam; and author even throws in a climate change warning that Miami will sink like Atlantis under the waves. Author recites plaintiff lawyers' claims about brain damage, without attempting to describe whether modern precautions & headgear have made the game safer.

I'm a huge football fan and sports historian, but I found this book tedious and boring. I was constantly checking the page number, hoping it was nearly the end. Maybe the 1972 Dolphins aren't very interesting. Oddly, the author can't seem to get past Nixon's reelection in 1972.