They were all very good 2 HOF players. Surtain might even get in one day. Still a sour taste they couldn’t do more with them and Ricky.
Haven't loved a player since Dan.
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Same for me basically @NY8123 putting JT in the place of Cox though
Great list. That's basically where I am, although I would add Bill Stanfill, and extremely high. I watched him on almost every defensive snap. He was such a rangy terror.
That was such a smart team. The other secondary members like Jake Scott, Tim Foley and Curtis Johnson deserve a nod also. They communicated so well. I can still picture all the hand gestures, then coming together to briefly chat between plays. They also took maximum advantage of the very liberal pass defense rules of that era. Then it was hardly a coincidence that their effectiveness declined somewhat after the Isaac Curtis Rule of 1974. That's why I've always had considerable issue with posters who proclaim multiple additional titles if Csonka, Warfield and Kick had remained. We needed to squeeze out 1974. Beyond that was unlikely. Same with all the goofs who think Dallas '90s was birthrighted to several additional titles.
Foley was one of the best interviews on the team, along with Anderson and the right tackle Norm Evans. Also Griese and Csonka, but both of them had such coy sense of humor they'd often detour the interview along those lines and the meat and potatoes football stuff was never explored again.
Griese is my favorite player in franchise history. He was so damn smart out there. That team epitomized smart. I assumed it would always be our staple. Even as a young kid I could see how he was setting up the slant pass to Warfield in a key situation, or alter his cadence to steal a cheap offsides on 3rd and 4. Quarterbacks are so pathetic at that these days. Everything is so over the top. Likewise the Chinese fire drill guys running around beyond them. Griese understood incremental.
I was never a Marino fan. I followed his career throughout at Pittsburgh. His acquisition guaranteed we would no longer threaten as a smart team. The less I say about Dan Marino the better. It's just sickening that Shula forfeited everything he had always believed in.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Dwight Stephenson. He is my favorite player post the glory era and by massive margin. That guy would have started ahead of Jim Larger and it wouldn't have been close.
Stephenson is easily the best center in NFL history.
Jason Taylor would be next on my post glory list. He would have caused issues in the early '70s because his natural position is right defensive end, just like Stanfill. Vern den Herder was excellent on the other side but not quite the equal of those two guys.
In terms of human being, Tua is tons the most impressive guy we've drafted this century. Otherwise Grier is too often fascinated by jerks.
Dolphin Mule
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Huge fan of college football wayyy before NIL. It's good for the players but not so much the university.
And the game you knew is gone FOREVER..... . Pandora's Box has been opened, follow the money...... "amateur" footbal has gone pro
raving
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I love Jalen Phillips - he could do it…
Dan was very special…
People want to compare other great QBs - fine Montana or Brady or whoever won more and were generational talents in their own rights - Marino was so much more talented by a large margin - by a long shot…
His ability to sense in the pocket…his fearless competitive fire….his amazing release….he made EVERY game he played in competitive…even through the Brian Sochia years…
He’s the only athlete in history that could go toe. To toe with Shula in competitive disagreements…Shula did not play that with ANYONE….But Dan would argue with Shula on the sidelines and Shula was like OK Dan’s got this I’m stepping back..
Dan really was the first ever to win games consistently in final minutes… he could put it all behind him and slash you into bits…. He even threw to bring the Dolphins into striking zone in his first Monday night game against the Raiders…I was wishing Shula had started Marino by then - he would have won that night!
But Shula had a very good o line in Marinos early career and that helped because Marino changed the position….Sad that he didn’t have a more well rounded team because he was just extraordinary!.
That said we need that guy to explode on the scene to take this team over the top!
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maybe because marino is a once in forever type talent?
if you are waiting for someone as transcendent as danny, it will be a long time.
if you are waiting for someone as transcendent as danny, it will be a long time.
Smith21
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Cameron wake was a pretty good player for a few years. Howard had a good 2 seasons where he was special. I’d say Tyreek hill is pretty good this year too. But no you’ll never replace Dan Marino
Trifecta Nation
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WOW! This is worth quoting just so anyone who missed it might catch it here. You probably won't get a lot of people who agree but there's no doubt the Dolphins changed - and a lot - after his arrival. He fell to us at 27 so we'd been in a super bowl that year. We could run the ball well and play defense lights out. The evidence? We were in a super bowl with David Woodley as the QB. So you bet we could do those other things well.
Then Dan fell to us. Within about two years do you know what we couldn't do any longer? Run the ball and play great defense. I attributed this to being too Dan-reliant. If we got in a jam, Dan could pass us out of it. You may have other reasons for this as it doesn't look like you were a big believer in Dan Marino. Maybe you just didn't think he possessed the intangibles even if he had arm strength and could place the ball anywhere on the field. After all, it takes a lot of things to make a great, complete QB. Would love more of your thoughts on if not Dan, maybe just where we were at the time, coming off a tough super bowl loss and just what was needed to maybe break through in the next couple seasons? Shame it never happened with Dan.
I’m the somewhat old timer you reference. I wish I was older to appreciate the early 1970s dominant teams.Can't feel you, dude AND MARINO IS MY HERO.
But I fall in love with these guys easy. I loved Ogunleye (had to google spell check that) & the Kraken. Loved Gadsen & McMichael & McDuffie. Loved Bell & Oliver. Rudy, Stoyanovich, Mare, TimBo, Cox, Gardner, Kirby, Ronnie... could go on forever.
I've NEVER loved another QB, though. Kinda impossible to live up to Dan. Tua is working on my heart-strings though. We're 2 consecutive playoff wins away from a make-out sesh.
Andrew the Viking Van Ginkel is my current man crush. That hair, though. Who's not donkey punching that sexy human engine?
Thanks for the thread. Fun exercise. If I had a list it would off the top of my head be:
1) Marino
2) Thomas
3) Taylor
4) Ricky
5) McDuffie
6) Madison
7) Surtain
8) Bell
9) Seau
10) Ogunleye
11) Wake
12) TimBo
13) Will Allen
14) Ronnie
15) Rudy
16) Webb
17) Sims
18) Konrad
19) Gadsen
20) Buckley
There's just too many to list & the rankings except for the top 5 are off cuz it's too damn hard to rate them.
Sorry, Oldtimers. I know I don't have the Kuches & the Czonkas & the Warfields but I'm not like, you know, almost dead.I kid you dinosaurs. We love you & miss the moxy of your time.
My all time favorite Dolphins are Dwight Stephenson, Kooch and Bob Baumhower. Csonka is right up there too.
Marino is undeniably great but… for reasons not totally his fault … to me he’s associated with losing and lost opportunity.
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Not losing, dude. What are you tryin to do me here? I've got sharp razor blades in the house.
Definitely lost opportunity but not losing,
Geez. Kill me now please.
We've had some great players on some bad teams
I’m sorry. Not all on him but… he played in as many SBs as David Woodley
I always think about a throw he tried in the final moments of a devastating playoff loss at SD (22-21).
Instead of getting our kicker 5 more yards, Marino went for the kill shot to a backup WR named Mike Williams.
The pass failed. So did the 48 yard FG.
It sadly sums him up to me.
This is one of the BEST posts ever.
The point about the the losing three players as the reason the dynasty ended is brilliant.
The team was emotionally spent and out drafted by Pitt and Oak in the early 1970s.
Kudos to this post.
Highzenga
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Ricky & Tyreek.