Is it fair when comparing the 1972-1973 Dolphins to modern day Super Bowl winners?

[CashInFist]

Or any other older Super Bowl team for that matter. The players today are much stonger and more talented (overall) than the really old time teams. They are bigger, stronger, and faster than the players of the past and probably 90% of modern day Super Bowl teams (winners and losers) could have beaten any old time Super Bowl teams even in their prime. How can we possibly say that the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the greatest team ever when if they lined up against a modern day Super Bowl champion they would probably get their a$ses handed to them due to way too many mismatches in size/strength/etc. I definately think the 1972 Miami Dolphins were the greatest team (historically) the NFL has ever had and I am very proud to be a Dolfan. I just think when determining the best team ever the modern day teams rule...those guys are good. :dolphins:

 

[nopony]

Not sure what you mean.

I compare them to their era. That's the only way that's fair.

This is very well traveled territory in baseball. You have to judge people on their era... both for modern developments and trends in the sport... like the live ball era and whatnot.

Football has those eras too, though not as pronounced. Rules changes make a huge difference. Imagine if Marino had these incredibly wussy interference rules, for example. The league has mandated changes for years to both protect its starts and to increase offense, thinking thats what the fans want to see.

I just think to say that it is the Greatest team ever is not a lie... all has to be judged in context. It doesn't mean they'd have to beat them head to head now.

 

[CashInFist]

Not sure what you mean.

I compare them to their era. That's the only way that's fair.

This is very well traveled territory in baseball. You have to judge people on their era... both for modern developments and trends in the sport... like the live ball era and whatnot.

Football has those eras too, though not as pronounced. Rules changes make a huge difference. Imagine if Marino had these incredibly wussy interference rules, for example. The league has mandated changes for years to both protect its starts and to increase offense, thinking thats what the fans want to see.

I just think to say that it is the Greatest team ever is not a lie... all has to be judged in context. It doesn't mean they'd have to beat them head to head now.

I was just thinking along the lines that the greatest team ever could line up against anyone (if both teams are in their prime) and win most of the time. The old teams wouldn't stand a chance against these modern teams with their size and power. They would get crushed.

 

[Dolfan2788]

The old teams would definitely be absolutely and utterly squashed against the athletes in the NFL now.

But it is fair to compare because back then everyone was on the same level just like now.
The talent level is exactly the same as it was back then for them in their era.

Players back then also didn't have extremely strict training regimes and 5 different types of supplements to get their bodies running at the absolute best it can be.


I guess you could say it's like inflation, it always happens and will probably never stop for a sustained amount of time but just because someone has only 1 mil back in 1970 and people now have 500 mil for rich people doesn't mean it belittles the person in the 1970's because back then, that was what was very rich.

(If that makes any sense at all) I'm kinda drunk

 

[Pauly]

With modern training techniques and nutritional knowledge you'd probably look at at adding at least 10 to 20 lbs of muscle mass to almost all of the players from 1972, at the same time make them faster as well as stronger.

I might have my rose colored glasses on, but in my opinion the teams of the 70s had better technical skills than modern players. For example I think modern players have very poor tackling techniques with too many going for the big hit rather than ensuring that they tackle their man. I think it was due to the fact that football was a simpler game back then, so more attention as paid to the basics. Zach Thomas is the living proof that good technique and football instincts can more than make up for less than ideal size/strength.

Also if you played under the rules as they were in the 1970s the modern prima donna receivers wouldn't cope with being mugged all the way downfield, and the modern o-line would get whistled off the park with the old "no hands" blocking rule.

 

[whatsburning]

They can compare the '72 Undefeated team to any other team they want... we'll still be one loss better than any other team!

 

[Semedi]

I was just thinking along the lines that the greatest team ever could line up against anyone (if both teams are in their prime) and win most of the time. The old teams wouldn't stand a chance against these modern teams with their size and power. They would get crushed.

Then stop thinking along those lines, that's poor logic.

 

[BBsuck]

I am sure czonka would be able to run over Takeo Spikes instead of running around him...The times are different, but the attitude would still be the same:cooldude:

 

[LtDan]

Well all teams were using the same talent pool then and all use the same talent pool now. FA has changed the game a lot....is there a fair comparison?? I am not really sure. Who would win a game between an old team and a new team? Who knows

 

[BlueFin]

Or any other older Super Bowl team for that matter. The players today are much stonger and more talented (overall) than the really old time teams. They are bigger, stronger, and faster than the players of the past and probably 90% of modern day Super Bowl teams (winners and losers) could have beaten any old time Super Bowl teams even in their prime. How can we possibly say that the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the greattest team ever when if they lined up against a modern day Super Bowl champion they would probably get their a$ses handed to them due to way too many mismatches in size/strength/etc. I definately think the 1972 Miami Dolphins were the greatest team (historically) the NFL has ever had and I am very proud to be a Dolfan. I just think when determining the best team ever the modern day teams rule...those guys are good. :dolphins:

All things are relative, steroids took over football after the Dolphin dynasty, we were probably the last clean champion.

Pittsburgh has already had a few guys die young from the effects of long term steroids off their 70's teams.

Combine that with the other supplements and year round training(back then they had to work other jobs in the off-season), and its not hard to see why there is a difference now.

Those players could have been just as big and strong on the juice.

So, the answer is it doesn't matter, the Dolphins dominated their era of basically clean teams.

The only major difference that I see is the size of the lines on average.

Remember, the rules were different then too, for example, the DB's could wrestle with the wideouts all the way down the field, as long as the ball wasn't in the air, so strength and size were as or more important than speed for both wideouts and DB's.

 

[themole]

All things are relative, steroids took over football after the Dolphin dynasty, we were probably the last clean champion.

Pittsburgh has already had a few guys die young from the effects of long term steroids off their 70's teams.

Combine that with the other supplements and year round training(back then they had to work other jobs in the off-season), and its not hard to see why there is a difference now.

Those players could have been just as big and strong on the juice.

So, the answer is it doesn't matter, the Dolphins dominated their era of basically clean teams.

The only major difference that I see is the size of the lines on average.

Remember, the rules were different then too, for example, the DB's could wrestle with the wideouts all the way down the field, as long as the ball wasn't in the air, so strength and size were as or more important than speed for both wideouts and DB's.

One other thing to keep in mind was the mind set of the old school coaches. I remember Shula stating that he would NOT have anybody weighing over threehundred pounds on his team.

He and most other coaches of that era would not tolerate excess FAT on any of their players! They wanted their players chiseled, in shape and to present themselves as professional athletes.

Another difference I see between the players of today and the ones of yesteryear, is the lack of the most distinctive mark of a football player, "The Bullneck". How many of you old schoolers remember the dreaded "Neck Bridges"? There are some players that still have them but not many.

Do any of you remember Tommy Nobis, LB for the Falcons in the early 70s, with the 22 inch neck?

The game has changed and the philosophy of what an athelete should look like has changed.

Maybe if yesterdays teams would be allowed to compete using the same set of rules and technique of their times against modern era teams, restraining the modern era team from using old technique and rules the old teams would prevail. Who's to know?