What comes after perfection?
Some members of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins remained fixtures in front of the
TV cameras, while others became activists, got in trouble with the law, or mostly left
the spotlight behind for simpler lives.
Here’s what the 1972 Dolphins look like now.
Quarterback Bob Griese played 14 seasons for the Dolphins from 1967 to 1980.
He's one of only three players to have his jersey number retired by the team, and in
1972, he was on fire through the first four games, before suffering a broken ankle in
Week 5.
Backup Earl Morrall, who passed away in 2014, completed the regular season and most of the
playoffs before giving way to Griese in the second half of the AFC Championship and the
Super Bowl.
After retiring, Griese became one of the most respected analysts in pro and college football.
He also produced another NFL quarterback in the form of his son Brian, whose career was
full of similar ups and downs in equal measure.
Additionally, Bob became a chairman of Moffitt Cancer Center's national Board of Advisors
after losing his wife to cancer.
Larry Csonka was built like a defensive end, but he powered the offense as a fullback.
When he wasn't opening up king-sized lanes for his team's running backs, he was carrying
the ball himself, right through anyone unlucky enough to be in his way.
His toughness earned him the respect of everybody on the field, and he made the Pro Bowl for
five consecutive seasons, with the 1972 campaign smack dab in the middle.
After his playing days, Csonka parlayed his fame into a notable TV presence, appearing
in commercials and guest spots on outdoor shows, as well as hosting American Gladiators
in the early 90s.
Today, the avid outdoorsman and his longtime partner Audrey Bradshaw live in Alaska, where
they hosted and produced the TV series North to Alaska, Csonka Outdoors, and Suzuki Great
Outdoors.
"Man, there's an amazing number of Csonkas."
The 1972 Dolphins were all about using the threat of the deep pass to set up the run,
a novel strategy at the time that paid off in a big way.
Key to this plan was running back Eugene "Mercury" Morris, who provided the lightning to Csonka's
thunder.
The duo became the first pair of NFL running backs ever to both amass 1,000 rushing yards
in a season.
Since then, Morris has endured some tribulations on his way to his present-day status advocating
for the NFL to take better care of its veterans.
He was convicted of cocaine trafficking in 1982, and he was facing 20 years in the slammer
until the Florida State Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
He wrote a book about the ordeal in 1988 and has done the rounds as a motivational speaker
before becoming a crusader for veterans' rights.
Linebacker Nick Buoniconti may be the most well-known name on Miami's defensive unit
from 1972, but that's not saying much.
There weren't too many flashy, loudmouth players on the defensive side like there are today.
Instead, it was a squad that kept their heads down and quietly went about the business of
smacking the snot out of opposing offenses.
Such was the D's lack of starpower that it became known as the "No-Name Defense."
Buoniconti stayed pretty busy after retirement, appearing in commercials and on HBO's Inside
the NFL.
Unfortunately, he passed away from pneumonia in 2019.
In his final years, he made headlines for a tragic reason, as he experienced serious
issues with cognitive decline.
The troubles began when he was in his mid-50s, which compelled him to speak out in light
of the publicity surrounding CTE, a loss of cognitive function caused by repeated blows
to the head, which affects a significant number of NFL players.
"Nick Buoniconti leaves a legacy that touches millions of us."
Wide receiver Paul Warfield was key to Coach Don Shula's vision.
A lightning-quick player who could get down the field in a hurry, he provided the deep
threat necessary for Csonka and Morris to rack up all their rushing yards.
As graceful as he was quick, Warfield only totaled about 600 yards during the 1972 campaign,
but this was by design.
He managed to establish a career yards-per-catch mark of 20.1, which to this day is still among
the best ever.
"His uniform was always clean.
In other words, he didn't get banged around too much."
Warfield returned to his previous team of the Cleveland Browns in 1976 and retired there
the following year.
His post-retirement career consisted of a number of front office positions, including
a personnel consultant for the Browns and Dallas Cowboys.
He was also director of player relations for the Browns for a couple years.
He's been officially retired since 2010, and though he still hangs around the Browns' facility
to offer up opinions from time to time, he mostly just takes things easy with his wife
Bev.
Offensive lineman Larry Little's career began when he was signed as an undrafted free agent
by the San Diego Chargers in 1967.
He ultimately wound up with two Super Bowl rings and a Hall of Fame induction.
The bruising guard was the lead blocker on Miami's nearly unstoppable sweep plays.
He was a five-time Pro Bowler, he was selected as the AFC's Offensive Lineman of the Year
three times, and he only missed four games due to injury during his 11 seasons with Miami.
He offered some advice to undrafted players in a 2018 interview, as he noted,
"I tell those guys, 'Just because you're a free agent, that doesn't mean you won't be
good enough to play in this league [...] I made my way all the way to the Pro Football
Hall of Fame.'"
Offensive lineman Jim Langer took a somewhat similar route as Larry Little to Super Bowl
glory, as he was signed as an undrafted free agent in 1970 by the Browns before being cut
in training camp and bolting to Miami.
He only saw limited playing time in his first two seasons, but in 1972 he was elevated to
starter.
He played in 141 consecutive games for the Fins, went to six straight Pro Bowls, and
played in three Super Bowls, not bad for an ex-linebacker who went to school at South
Dakota State.
Langer passed away in 2019 from a heart-related issue.
In his final years, he liked to take things easy.
As he put it during a 2016 appearance at his alma mater of Royalton High School in St.
Cloud, Minnesota,
"I mow my own lawn.
I don't do much.
I'm pretty boring."
Before Langer died, his knees were kind of shot, and he didn't make too many public appearances.
But the one at the high school was special, as it was in honor of Royalton being named
an official "NFL Hometown Hall of Fame" school.
"It's really a treat to come back.
It really is."
Offensive tackle Norm Evans has an interesting legacy outside of his ten seasons with Miami.
He was picked in the 1976 expansion draft to become the first to ever play the position
for the Seattle Seahawks, staying there for three seasons and helping establish the new
franchise.
That team didn't exactly live up to the standard of excellence that Evans was used to, though.
During his Miami years, on the other hand, he was another crushing standout on a mighty
offensive line, as he played in all three of the Fins' Super Bowl appearances and was
selected to two Pro Bowls.
Since the 80s, he's been spreading the word of the Lord to NFL players through Pro Athletes
Outreach, an organization he presided over for 26 years.
Wide receiver Marlin Briscoe wasn't as flashy or quick as Paul Warfield, but he does have
a claim to fame that nobody can ever take away, as he was the first Black quarterback
to start in the AFL, calling signals for the Denver Broncos as a rookie in 1968.
Briscoe was switched to the receiver position for all of his subsequent seasons.
He grabbed two rings with the Dolphins before finishing out his career at San Diego, Detroit,
and New England.
Ultimately, though, he always considered himself a quarterback first.
A strange twist to Briscoe’s career was that his nickname was The Magician - because
he could throw a spiral like few others.
A film documenting his rookie season, aptly titled, The Magician, has been in development
for years.
Don Shula owns the NFL's all-time win record for coaches, and as of 2022, he's got a pretty
safe lead.
He racked up 347 regular season and postseason wins, and among active coaches within reach,
there's really only the Patriots' Bill Belichick, with 321.
Shula coached the Dolphins for 25 years, took no fewer than three quarterbacks to the Super
Bowl, and racked up all his victories largely during an era when there were fewer games
per season than there are now.
"What would Coach Don Shula do?"
Unfortunately, Shula shuffled off this mortal coil in 2020, but his long retirement consisted
largely of chilling out and enjoying the weather in Florida, where a chain of successful steakhouses
bearing his name can be found.
His legacy will doubtless inspire future generations of coaches, and it's a testament to his class
and humor that he declined to have "Eat it, Belichick" engraved on his tombstone.
Linebacker Mike Kolen had an inauspicious start in the NFL.
He was drafted by the Dolphins in the twelfth round of the 1970 draft, and he came into
training camp a bit undersized for his position.
By the preseason, though, he was bench-pressing twice his weight and wowing the coaches with
his work ethic, and it wasn't long before he earned the nickname that would stick with
him for the rest of his career: Captain Crunch.
Kolen helped anchor Miami's linebacking corps for eight seasons, but he's probably best-remembered
for the infamous "Sea of Hands" play.
During a 1974 playoff game against Oakland, Kolen was one of several Miami defenders who
failed to intercept, swat down, or even headbutt a lazy floater of a pass thrown by Raiders
quarterback Ken Stabler into the end zone.
It somehow found its way into the hands of Oakland running back Clarence Davis, clinching
the win for the Raiders and effectively ending the days of Dolphin dominance.
After retirement, Kolen returned to Alabama to start his own financial services firm,
where he crunches numbers rather than the bones of opposing offensive players.
Tight end Marv Fleming began his career winning three NFL championships and back-to-back Super
Bowls with the Packers under legendary coach Vince Lombardi.
And then he ended it winning two more with Don Shula and the Dolphins.
Playing in an era during which tight ends were considered to be more like glorified
linebackers than pass-catchers, Fleming didn't see too many balls come his way.
But when they did, he made it count.
Over 12 seasons, he notched only 157 receptions, but he averaged 11.6 yards per catch, and
he found the end zone 16 times.
Fleming retired in 1975, and these days, he appears to spend most of his time taking it
easy, as he signs autographs for Packers and Dolphins fans alike, and posts pictures with
them to his Instagram.
Defensive end Vern Den Herder was a sack machine who played all 12 of his pro seasons with
Miami.
It's pretty terrible luck that the year he retired, 1982, was the first year that the
NFL formally started keeping track of sacks.
But Den Herder's unofficial career total of 65 is more than respectable, especially considering
that his cohorts on the D-Line weren't exactly a bunch of pushovers themselves.
After retiring, Den Herder moved back to his hometown of Sioux Center, Iowa, to become
a farmer, and he's held down the family farm with his wife Diane ever since.
He's managed to build the farm from a one-tractor, one-combine operation into a successful four-decade-long
enterprise.
He looks back on his football days with the fondness one would expect from a champion
and the folksy, simple wisdom you'd expect from a humble Iowa farmer.
As he put it to Siouxland News in 2011,
"Actually went to 4 Super Bowls during my career.
We won two and we lost two.
We enjoyed winning them better."
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