Today in history...January 13, 1974 - Super Bowl VIII | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Today in history...January 13, 1974 - Super Bowl VIII

RedFive

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Tough to believe that so much time has passed, but still a great memory.

My favorite part of the game highlight video below is the quote from Carl Eller of the Vikings about the Dolphins, and starts at about the 19:30 mark.

After the game Eller said, “I have never seen a more dominating team than the Miami Dolphins.
All afternoon, I had the feeling that the outcome had already been decreed on high before we even took the field. It seemed I could hear Scottish bagpipes in the distance, keeping time as they came after us, wave after wave – gaining ground so easily, they seemed to be floating in suspended animation.
It was a weird surrealistic scene, as if we were on the sidelines watching our own struggle yet being powerless to do anything about it.
After awhile it was obvious that they could not be stopped."


Super Bowl VIII | Minnesota Vikings vs Miami Dolphins | Game Highlights - YouTube

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Wow, thanks for posting this @Bosconian .

It may have been a while, but this franchise still embodies greatness. We just have to remind us veterans and show our younger supporters what Miami looks like with a dominant Dolphins team consistently contending for the Super Bowl. At the moment, Miami feels like a Heat town, or a town splintered into collegiate fans, soccer fans, basketball fans, hockey fans and baseball fans. But just as life-dominating as this pandemic has been in a bad way, the Miami Dolphins are just as life-dominating in a good way. When the Dolphins are good ... Miami at it's core is a Dolphins town.

Fins Up!
 
Wow, thanks for posting this @Bosconian .

It may have been a while, but this franchise still embodies greatness. We just have to remind us veterans and show our younger supporters what Miami looks like with a dominant Dolphins team consistently contending for the Super Bowl. At the moment, Miami feels like a Heat town, or a town splintered into collegiate fans, soccer fans, basketball fans, hockey fans and baseball fans. But just as life-dominating as this pandemic has been in a bad way, the Miami Dolphins are just as life-dominating in a good way. When the Dolphins are good ... Miami at it's core is a Dolphins town.

Fins Up!
Agreed. It feels good to see this team making progress and heading in the right direction.
 
That’s quite a bit of prose from Eller - man that D line was freaking great. It’s a shame those Vikes didn’t win in four tries w that team - Eller, Marshal, Page, Tinghoff, Tarkington, Foreman, Kraus, Bryant, Rahshad etc - should have beaten Pitt and the Raiders.
 
That’s quite a bit of prose from Eller - man that D line was freaking great. It’s a shame those Vikes didn’t win in four tries w that team - Eller, Marshal, Page, Tinghoff, Tarkington, Foreman, Kraus, Bryant, Rahshad etc - should have beaten Pitt and the Raiders.
The "Purple People Eaters"!

My brother is a huge Raiders fan and his favorite player was Jack Tatum. As kids we had some very interesting neighborhood football games whenever we played on opposite teams. This image of Tatum standing over Rashad is something he enjoyed trying to duplicate during those games. Crazy.

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Miami felt they has a better team this year than the undefeated with a tougher schedule
 
I watched it when I was seven. My older brother (five years older) was a Vikings fan and he beat the **** out of me for a good six months after that game. I remember the postgame interview with Csonka. A tough SOB!
Similar to me, but without the beatings!

I remember a few months after the game, my mother bought me a coloring book and color pencils of the game. Love that memory. Thanks both to my mom and brother Stephen for making me the slightly obsessive fan I am today!
 
Strange game because there was almost zero tension locally during the build up, in such contrast to a year earlier. It looked like a perfect matchup for the Dolphins and played out that way.

I had predicted at least 250 yards rushing and thought that was low. The game started out that way then Miami got a bit complacent after the first drive of the second half and mostly played defense and field position for the remainder.

Shula had a really lousy history in the second halves of Super Bowls. Two touchdowns total, I believe, in 6 games. One with the Colts during the 16-7 loss to the Jets, and the third quarter touchdown in this game. Nothing against the Cowboys, Redskins, Redskins again or 49ers.

I had never heard that trend until my first year in Las Vegas, the 1984 football season. Miami was somehow put up -3.5 and even -4 at halftime against the 49ers. It looked totally ridiculous the way San Francisco had dominated the second quarter. My friend Super Dave from Toronto ran to the window to bet huge on the 49ers. He came back and said, "If you can watch that game and not bet the 49ers at that number, I don't know why you are in this town." Then he started laughing and detailed Shula's second half Super Bowl woes. That was a jarring year in many respects as I sensed I was surrounded by guys who knew lots of stuff I didn't know.
 
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