Jimmy Buffett's 'Fins' song and the Dolphins' fight song, Which one is the fan-favorite?

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post

The NFL’s preseason is in full swing and the 2023 season is right around the corner. There’s only about two weeks until the sound of the Sunday Night Football horns blow their iconic melody weekly into living rooms and sports bars across the country.

What does football season sound like to you? Is it the voice of Carrie Underwood, telling you she’s been waiting all day for Sunday night? Is it the NFL Sunday Night Football jingle? Or is it the sound of a full stadium of cheering fans, marked by your team’s fight song?

For seasoned Miami Dolphins fans, the sound of football season is Lee Ofman’s original Miami Dolphins Fight Song, which came out after the team’s undefeated 1972 season. The song has been revamped and remixed since its debut in the 1970s but still echoes through Hard Rock Stadium throughout every Dolphins game.

Miami is one of 19 NFL teams that have their own special fight song. What makes it really stand out is that the song has a rival. And its rival is a Jimmy Buffett song.

Here’s a look at the official and unofficial fight songs of the Miami Dolphins and where and how you can listen to the Hard Rock Stadium’s game day playlist.

Does Jimmy Buffett have a song for the Miami Dolphins?

Jimmy Buffett’s song “Fins,” released as a single in the summer of ‘79, reached number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 42 on the Easy Listening chart after it was released. The song gained so much popularity and is now a part of Buffett’s “Big 8” most popular songs that he plays at almost every concert.

In 2009, the part-time Palm Beach resident rewrote the lyrics of the song for the Miami Dolphins and it became an unofficial alternative to the fight song for the team.

Is Jimmy Buffett part owner of the Miami Dolphins?

Buffett’s “Fins” song doesn’t seem to be as widely loved by the fans as the team’s traditional fight song. And that may be because both songs were strongly influenced by what was going on with the team at the times they were written.

When Lee Ofman wrote the Dolphins’ original fight song on the back of a notepad, the team was chasing an undefeated record in its ‘72 season. It didn’t become popular until later that season, after the Miami Dolphins won Super Bowl VII. It rose to national fame with the team, becoming the soundtrack to Dolphins games.

More than a generation later, in 2009, Jimmy Buffett entered a business deal with his longtime friend and the then-new owner of the Dolphins, Stephen Ross.

In the business deal, Buffett became an investor, the stadium was briefly named for his beer brand, Landshark, and Ross asked if he would rewrite his hit song “Fins” as an attempt to phase out the ‘72 fight song, of which Buffett has said he is not a fan in a Rolling Stone interview.

In their 2009 season, while undergoing a switch in ownership, the Dolphins only had seven wins and lost nine games — a far cry from the 17-straight wins that the 1972 team brought home. Buffett’s song reflects this, repeating in its choruses that “you’re at the only game in town,” which doesn’t seem to excite fans as much as the victorious lyrics of the team’s traditional fight song.

Would you rather be reminded that your favorite NFL team is simply the “only game in town,” or be reminded of a time when the Miami Dolphins had the best team in the league?

Most fans choose to opt for singing along to “Miami has the Dolphins, the greatest football team. We take the ball from goal to goal, like no one’s ever seen…”

From the Post's 2009 archives: Author of Miami Dolphins' reworked fight song still a fan of the team

Do all NFL teams have a fight song?

Not all NFL teams have a fight song, here are the 19 teams that do:

  • Detroit Lions

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Vegas Raiders

  • Cincinnati Bengals

  • Miami Dolphins

  • San Francisco 49ers

  • Chicago Bears

  • Atlanta Falcons

  • New Orleans Saints

  • Cleveland Browns

  • Green Bay Packers

  • Minnesota Vikings

  • Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Philadelphia Eagles

  • New England Patriots

  • Baltimore Ravens

  • New York Giants

  • Washington Commanders

  • Dallas Cowboys

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Where can I listen to the Miami Dolphins’ game day music?

If you want to listen to the music that plays throughout Dolphins home games at Hard Rock Stadium, you can find Dolphins game day playlists on both Spotify and Apple Music.

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on X.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins have two fight songs. Which do fans like best?

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