When the Indianapolis Colts take on the San Diego Chargers today, they’ll be trying to move one step closer to NFL history by remaining undefeated with a chance to match the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team in league history to win every game it played. The coach of that legendary squad was Don Shula, a Hall of Famer who holds the NFL record for career wins with 347. Recently, Shula chatted about that special season and whether the Colts can match it.
Anthony Cotton: Is it kind of a chore to deal with this question every year?
Don Shula: It’s great to be remembered. Every year we get remembered.
AC: It’s gone a little far this year. What do you think?
DS: Well, Denver got to 13-0 a few years ago; now the Colts are. They just look so strong in every area. Peyton Manning is just unbelievable, playing as good as you can play. And he’s surrounded by great players; he’s responsible for a lot of that, too, with his work habits and the things he’s done with Marvin Harrison and the other receivers in terms of the timing they have. There’s Edgerrin James, and the defense, which you have to give Tony Dungy a lot of credit for, for the way he’s improved that. They have a kicker (Mike Vanderjagt) who never misses … it’s just a very, very strong football team.
AC: In ’72, did you ever think about being undefeated?
DS: The big difference between us and what’s going on in Indianapolis, is we lost (quarterback Bob) Griese in the fifth game and we went all through the season with Earl Morrall, our insurance quarterback. He played until Griese was able to come back in there. But to answer your question, our whole objective that year was to get back to the Super Bowl and win it. The year before, we’d had a great year and gotten beat by Dallas in the Super Bowl, and you have this feeling afterward that you had a great opportunity but you didn’t do it. Both teams are treated equally the week of the game, but when the Super Bowl’s over, they’re only talking about one of them. So, our whole goal was to be that team. I guess late in the season, we became aware of the fact that we had a chance to do something no one had done in the history of the game, so that became important, but still not as important as winning the last game. If we had been 16-1, and that loss was in the Super Bowl, we would have been devastated.
AC: Dungy has a decision to make in terms of going for your record or resting his players for the playoffs. You don’t hear anything about you having to make those same choices in ’72. Why is that?
DS: I don’t think we had that luxury, meaningless games at the end of the year. The race was still going on and we had to keep winning. I don’t remember when we clinched, or what the record of the second-place team was, but I don’t remember having that luxury.
AC: How would you deal with the Colts’ offense?
DS: I just think you’ve got to keep them from getting the big bites. It seems like they start out every game with a touchdown pass on the first play. The corner is looking into the backfield watching play action, and Marvin Harrison is running by him for an 80-yard touchdown. If I were playing corner, I wouldn’t be worried about making the tackle on an off-tackle play, I’d be looking at Marvin Harrison running down the field.
AC: Do you like the NFL now? How often do you watch it?
DS: I watch. I’m still a big fan. I’m interested and try to keep up to date. I’m still a Dolphins fan; I go to whatever games I can. They beat Denver and Carolina and San Diego. They’ve got a three-game winning streak now, and they had games against New England and Atlanta that they could have won in the closing minutes. They could be right up there now.
AC: Do you think it was sort of psychological on (Dolphins coach Nick) Saban’s part when he started talking about next season?
DS: Oh, yeah, but I think he wishes he had that back.
AC: Really?
DS: Yeah, I think he said later he didn’t really mean it the way it sounded.
AC: Were you ever concerned with how your players felt about you? Whether they liked you?
DS: That’s not your No. 1 priority. Your No. 1 priority is to win. You’d like it to go in an atmosphere where there are no problems and everything is great, but sometimes it doesn’t happen that way. The bottom line is you have to have the confidence to make the tough decisions that you feel are in the best interest of your team winning – that game or that season. And then, if you have conflicts or disputes, it’s just part of the game. You can’t worry about popularity.
AC: How often do you talk with the guys from the ’72 team?
DS: You run into them at charity events, golf tournaments or reunions or that type of thing. They’re scattered all over. I’m really proud of them. They were a great bunch of guys to coach, and they’ve proven that with what they’ve done since football. Most of them have been very successful.
AC: The legend goes every year you guys get together to celebrate when the last undefeated team loses. Is that true?
DS: Oh, come on, you don’t believe that stuff.
AC: Just not true? No champagne toasts?
DS: I think what happened is one of those years – I’m not sure which one – when the last undefeated team lost, Griese and Nick Buoniconti and Dick Anderson, who all lived across the street from each other in the Coral Gables area, they went out into the driveway and toasted each other. They were too cheap to invite the rest of us down.
AC: And from there, the legend was born. So, would you mind if the Colts did go undefeated? Would it hurt at all?
DS: If they accomplish that, I’ll be the first to call Tony and congratulate him. When you do something that no one else has done, before ’72 or since, you know how tough it is to do it. It would be a great accomplishment. They would actually end up having to win more games than we did to do it.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
