Editor’s note: In the Colorado Classics series, The Denver Post takes a weekly look at individuals who made their mark on the Colorado sports landscape and what they are doing now.
A champagne toast was in order, and Dick Anderson and Nick Buoniconti performed the ceremony.
The Great Team had survived yet another challenge to its revered place in NFL history and the two teammates on the 1972 Miami Dolphins wanted to mark the occasion.
So, in the week after the San Diego Chargers ended the Indianapolis Colts’ run to join the 1972 Dolphins as the only undefeated team in the NFL’s 86 years, Anderson and Buoniconti met in Miami and conducted their ceremony. They didn’t toast San Diego’s 26-17 victory; instead their toast was a salute to the Dolphins remaining alone in their place in history.
“I know that records are made to be broken and one of these days someone will do it,” said Anderson, whose sports endeavors were shaped at Boulder High School and the University of Colorado. “But not this year.”
Members of the Great Team have had celebrations to toast the demise of would-be challengers. Some of the toasts have been boisterous, giving the impression the 1972 Dolphins are overzealous in pointing to another fallen pretender.
“They call us angry old men, but we’re not going to cheer for some team to beat our record,” Anderson said. “We did it, and we certainly were proud of it when it happened. If another team does it, it would mean two teams have gone undefeated (and untied) in NFL history and that’s still an honor.”
The 1972 Dolphins went 14-0 in the regular season, came from behind with quarterback Earl Morrall to beat Cleveland 20-14 in the playoffs, defeated Pittsburgh 21-17 in the AFC championship game (quarterback Bob Griese came off the bench to direct the win) and beat Washington 14-7 in Super Bowl VII to cap a 17-0 season.
“We were beaten by Dallas the year before in the Super Bowl, and we were totally focused on getting back to the Super Bowl and winning it,” Anderson said. “The undefeated record was a by-product.”
As the 2005 Colts stretched their record to 13-0 before losing to the Chargers, Anderson believed they had a great chance to produce a perfect season. There had been other challengers – including the 1998 Broncos, who won their first 13 games. The 1991 Washington Redskins made a run by winning their first 11 games and the 1985 Chicago Bears were 12-0 before losing. But the Colts caught Anderson’s attention.
Anderson’s NFL career ended after the 1977 season, but he already had started a path in the business world. He also won a four-year term in the Florida state senate as a Democrat in 1978.
“Players from my time were different than the current players in that we had to work other jobs,” Anderson said. “My football salaries the first three years were $15,000, $17,500 and $21,000.”
Anderson’s business career has varied. But he is back in the insurance field, where he started while still playing. He also is treasurer of the Celebrity Players Golf Tour.
Eddie Crowder, Anderson’s coach at CU, relayed a comment from pro golfer Hale Irwin, one of Anderson’s football teammates at Boulder. Crowder said Irwin believes Anderson could have made it on the pro golf tour.
Crowder was involved in a key decision leading to Anderson’s career in the NFL and a place in the Dolphins’ starting lineup.
While adjusting to two-platoon football in Anderson’s sophomore season at CU in 1965, Crowder put Anderson in the defensive backfield and gave his fullback position to Wilmer Cooks. Anderson remembered he was a little miffed at first, and Crowder would like to do it differently as he looks back.
“If I were doing it again, I would have Dick Anderson’s hands on the ball on offense at least 10 times a game,” Crowder said. “We didn’t have a full grasp of his potential. But when he ran with the ball, he had magic.”
Anderson said he was angry when he wasn’t drafted by the Broncos. He and younger brother Bobby Anderson were two of the state’s best as they played at Boulder High and CU. Bobby Anderson was drafted by the Broncos.
“My heart still is in Colorado,” Dick Anderson said. “I follow my Buffs. I had the opportunity to watch my son, Blake Anderson, play at CU.”
And as for the switch to defense in college, Dick Anderson also has a different view.
“As it turned out, it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
“I might not have played in the NFL as a running back. I don’t think I could have played 10 years as a running back.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
