‘The city went crazy’: How Dolphins fans, Miami celebrated Super Bowl VII, perfect season

There are many stories that can be told about how the city of Miami celebrated after the Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, a victory that secured their perfect 1972 season.

For Aaron Podhurst, the memory remains fresh in his mind — even 50 years later.

Podhurst’s main celebration came a couple days after the 14-7 win. His neighborhood in Miami Lakes commemorated the occasion with a block part in the driveway between his house and his neighbor.

That neighbor? Dolphins coach Don Shula.

“The entire neighborhood was invited,” Podhurst said. “Everyone came. We celebrated with speeches, cheering and extolling our friend Don,” Podhurst said. “He stayed for a long time greeting everyone personally. He told me many times afterwards that the neighborhood celebration was as meaningful to him as any honors or awards he ever received. Such were the priorities of this man.”

Podhurst reflected on that night in an email interview with the Miami Herald on May 4, 2020 — the day Shula died at age 90.

The two became neighbors in March 1970. The Shulas and Podhursts developed a friendship through the years, with Shula one time even serving as babysitter for Podhurst’s three kids.

“Don was even greater than his legend,” Podhurst said. “Our country and South Florida is a much better place because Don Shula worked and walked in our world. He touched so many lives and made them better.”

Dolphins fans certainly recognized what he and his team accomplished that 1972 season. Look no further than what happened in downtown Miami shortly after the game went final in Los Angeles, where some of the on-the street celebrations that have become common for South Florida professional teams were brought to life for the first time.

‘The city went crazy’

The Miami Herald’s story from that night described the scene as a “Times Square-type stampede” that included “hundreds of cars driving up and down the street, blowing their horns and waving white hankies like they’re looking for someplace to surrender.”

Among those in the crowd some 50 years ago was Marielena Cabrera.

Long before people banged the pots and pans and honked their cars as has become commonplace whenever the Miami Heat or Marlins have won championships, Cabrera experienced the first such celebration for Miami when a major professional sports franchise won a title.

Cabrera jumped in her best friend’s convertible and drove to the Downtown Miami area where she spent the next couple of hours celebrating with many other fans in a party-like atmosphere.

PERFECT MEMORIES

Join us each Wednesday as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the perfect 1972 team

“The city went crazy,” Cabrera said. “We had never seen something like that. It was amazing.”

The celebration got so intense that, according to Herald archives, a woman called the Miami Herald newsroom asking, “Has peace been declared? Is that what all the honk-honking is about?” The Vietnam War was going on at this time.

The reply: “No, ma’am, the Dolphins just won the Super Bowl.”

It was a night many never thought would come — and a night that has yet to happen again in NFL history. The 1972 Dolphins, 50 years later, remain the only NFL team to have a perfect season.

Bill Daley, a longtime producer of the Dolphins Digest as well as editor at the River Cities Gazette community newspaper in Miami Springs and Miami Herald freelance high schools writer, remembers nearly losing faith the Dolphins could stay unbeaten.

Daley was even concerned that they would win their season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. Daley wore white shorts and what he called a tacky purple shirt that Sunday when the Dolphins ruined the Chiefs’ debut at Arrowhead Stadium with a 20-10 victory.

Fast forward to Jan. 13, and there Daley was, sitting next to his father watching the Super Bowl for three hours and sweating nervously throughout the game. He was still wearing the same shirt and shorts he did the afternoon of the season opener.

“My father and I actually started jumping up and down and, for the first time ever that I could remember, embraced with a hug,” said Daley, who would later end up working for the Dolphins from 1977 to 1980 as an assistant equipment manager. “It was a surreal moment, something I tried to appreciate. I never really thought about that hug much after that day. It wasn’t until my dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly 13 years later that I realized that we never embraced each other again after that day. It was just that one moment, frozen in time. The Dolphins going 17-and-0 and winning the Super Bowl had brought me and my dad as close as we would ever be and that’s something I’ll always cherish.”

A message from Nixon

President Richard Nixon watched the Dolphins’ Super Bowl win over Washington, his favorite team, from South Florida home of friend and confidant C.G. “Bebe” Rebozo. Nixon called Shula following the game to give his congratulations.

Shula, in the midst of celebration and interviews following the game, did not immediately answer and had to call the president back afterward.

“He told me he knew how important the victory was, both for the team and for me personally,” Shula said, according to Herald archives. “It’s remarkable how interested and knowledgeable he is about pro football.”

‘Seventeen-and-oh says it all’

One day later, a drove of more than 10,000 fans made their way to Miami International Airport to greet the team as its Eastern Airlines charter flight landed the night after winning Super Bowl VII in Los Angeles.

The group, which was set up atop an eight-foot platform beyond a security fence, gave a rousing ovation to the team when it arrived.

The 120-member Carol City marching band, Fred Shannon Smith’s orchestra and emcee Dan Fitzgerald provided entertainment for the crowd, some of whom arrived three hours before the flight was scheduled to land, during the wait.

Shula’s message to the fans who greeted them: “Seventeen-and-oh says it all. The world championship. The best team ever in professional football.”

Shula marveled at the crowd, remembering that there were only abut 4,000 people at the airport to greet them one year earlier when they lost in Super Bowl VI to the Dallas Cowboys.

“We promised to work for another opportunity to bring the championship to Miami,” Shula said. “I’m so proud of the people who are responsible for doing it.”

Miami Herald deputy sports editor Andre Fernandez contributed reporting.