Younger Griese brings back thoughts of 72

By By Josh Taylor / staff writer
Nov. 2, 2003
The year was 1972.
Joe Cocker and the Doobie Brothers ruled the airwaves. "The Godfather" was number one at the box office while "Deliverance" had everyone scared
of rednecks and rivers. Nixon was in office as the country was on the verge of a scandal that would rock our nation Watergate.
That same year, the Miami Dolphins were coming off a stellar 1971 season with a 10-3-1 record that eventually ended with an embarrassing 24-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl.
The Dolphins started off the '72 season with a 20-10 victory over Kansas City in their new Arrowhead Stadium followed by a 34-13 win over Houston. Miami edged past Minnesota in game three by a score of
16-14. That would be the closest anyone would come to beating Miami the rest of the season.
Despite an easy win over San Diego in week five, Miami did suffer a major loss when quarterback Bob Griese went down with a fractured leg. Luckily, backup
Earl Morrall was able to carry Miami through the rest of the season with a lot of help from running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris.
In game nine Miami grabbed a 52-0 win over New England. The Baltimore Colts were the last to fall to Miami in the regular season, 16-0.
Miami rolled through the playoffs with wins over Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Griese returned in the AFC championship game and led the team on to a 14-7 Super
Bowl win over the Washington Redskins.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins did something that no other NFL team had ever done, or has yet to do again. They finished the season with a perfect 17-0 record. Head
coach Don Shula and his team had managed to finish first in points scored with 385 and first in fewest points allowed with 171.
After a Hall of Fame career, Bob Griese went on to work as an ABC TV commentator. Somewhere along the way he managed to produce three sons. The youngest of the three, Brian, grew up to play college football at Michigan before being drafted by the Denver Broncos.
After five mediocre years with the Broncos, the younger Griese gets traded to none other than the Miami Dolphins.
Flash forward to today. The Dolphins started off this season with franchise quarterback Jay Fiedler behind center. Fiedler suffered a knee injury in a week seven overtime loss to New England. This opened the door for history to repeat itself.
Last week the younger Griese was tapped as the starter for week eight. Griese did not disappoint.
What followed was an impressive 26-10 victory over San Diego. He completed 20-of-29 for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
This recent turn of events has led many to foresee a future much like the past for the Miami Dolphins. Is Brian Griese the Dolphins savior? After over a decade
with the monumental Dan Marino at quarterback and a world championship just out of reach, is this the Dolphins' time in the sun?
Honestly, I don't know. Miami fans would be wise to realize that a win over the San Diego Chargers is not that great of an accomplishment. With that being said, Griese did look pretty good. Take the historic aspect of Brian Griese, mix in his ability on the field, add a dash of Ricky Williams, and stir it all up with a tough Miami defense full of Pro Bowlers and what do you have? A Super Bowl champ? It could happen.
Most people wrote off the Dolphins when they lost game one to Houston. They have since come back to take five wins. The Dolphins toughest challenges are in
the next two weeks. They face Indianapolis today at home followed by a road game next week at Tennessee.
If Miami wins both of these games, they have a good shot at the Super Bowl. The only other major obstacle would be a playoff match up with Kansas City.
Interestingly enough, the Griese father-son duo is the only such pair to play quarterback for the same team in NFL history.
It seems appropriate that all this hype comes on a week that Miami faces another one of the NFL's favorite legacies, Peyton Manning. The elder Manning and Griese (Archie and Bob) did face each other once as starters in their careers. The date was Nov. 10, 1974. Griese and the Dolphins rolled over Archie and the Saints, 21-10. No surprise there.
In case you are wondering, there have been five known father-son quarterback combinations in the history of the NFL.
Along with the Mannings and Grieses, there was Emery Nix and Kent Nix, Jack Kemp and Jeff Kemp, and Phil Simms and Chris Simms, although Chris Simms
has yet to see any real playing time.