---
slug: "miami-dolphins"
title: Miami Dolphins
depth_tier: program
side: UNIVERSAL
category: Teams
source_id: "NFL-0002"
created: 2026-05-12
updated: 2026-05-13
canonical: https://learningfootball.xyz/programs/miami-dolphins
sameAs:
  - "https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/mia/miami-dolphins"
  - Q223243
  - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Dolphins"
  - "https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/index.htm"
---
# Miami Dolphins

## Short Definition

AFC East NFL franchise founded in 1966—home of the NFL's only perfect season (1972) and Don Shula, the winningest coach in league history.

## Definition

The Miami Dolphins are an NFL franchise in the AFC East division, playing home games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Founded in 1966 as an AFL expansion franchise, the Dolphins are defined by the Don Shula era—the 1972 season in particular, when Miami completed the only perfect season in NFL history, going 17-0 including a Super Bowl victory. Shula became the winningest coach in NFL history, a record that still stands.

The 1972 Dolphins remain the standard against which every undefeated team is measured. Each season when the final undefeated team loses, the surviving members of the 1972 squad have a tradition of opening champagne—a ritual that has become one of professional football's more charming annual customs.

Miami's identity is also shaped by its market—a warm-weather, multi-sport city where football competes for attention with basketball and baseball—and by the physical challenge of playing in South Florida heat and humidity in September and October. The franchise has produced Hall of Fame players at multiple positions and multiple head coaches, but the Shula era and the perfect season remain the franchise's defining identity.

The franchise's post-dynasty history includes competitive runs and rebuilding periods, with ownership and coaching stability challenges that made sustained excellence difficult to replicate after the 1970s peak. The standard set by 1972 remains the franchise's north star and the measuring stick for every subsequent contender in NFL history.

## Example

"Every year when the last undefeated team loses, the 1972 Dolphins open champagne. Fifty years and nobody has matched them. The perfect season isn't a footnote—it's the standard."

## Common Confusion

The Dolphins' 1972 perfect season is the only undefeated championship in NFL history, but it is often misremembered as miraculous luck. That team had the league's leading rusher, an elite defense, and a Hall of Fame coach—it was constructed for dominance, not fortunate. No team has matched it in over fifty years.

## Related

- super-bowl-sunday
- lombardi-trophy
- nfl-films

---
Source: https://learningfootball.xyz/programs/miami-dolphins