“I wanted to throw up.”
This is not the normal type of quote you hear from a winning coach after a game, but that did come from Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula after Miami’s 24-10 victory over the San Diego Chargers in week 5 of the 1972 season.
This was not a normal game, though. The price of victory had been very steep and threatened to derail not only any premature dreams of a perfect season Dolphins players and coaches may have had, but also their championship aspirations and hopes of redemption for their Super Bowl VI loss to Dallas.
With about six minutes remaining in the first quarter at the Orange Bowl, Miami quarterback Bob Griese dropped back to pass. If was first down for the Dolphins from the Chargers 39-yard line in a scoreless game. Griese was looking to connect with Jim Kiick, who had come open downfield. As he shared many years later, Griese didn’t feel like he had the most powerful throwing arm, so he would take a big step forward with his left foot, the one he planted to throw, when he was going for a deep pass. This resulted in his left leg being more exposed and vulnerable.
On this play, the Chargers were coming after Griese with their potent pass rush. Both Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones and defensive tackle Ron East had broken through the line and were pressuring him. As Griese released the ball, Jones hit him high, and East hit him low.
For what happened next, let’s hear it directly from Griese as he wrote in his book “Perfection,” his story of the 1972 season:
“As soon as East hit me, I felt a riot of pain in the lower part of my right leg. The stadium went silent. I reached down for the ankle and knew immediately that it was broken. I ran my hand up my leg but didn’t feel anything else wrong. I sat up, but the leg wasn’t moving with me. It was an odd sensation. I looked down at the leg, which was bent at an angle that didn’t make sense.”
That was because he had broken the small bone in his left leg, the fibula, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. He had also severely dislocated his left ankle, stretching and tearing ligaments in the process. That was the injury that threatened his, and therefore the Dolphins, season. As Griese was being wheeled off on a stretcher, many of the 80,010 fans in attendance felt their dream season rolling away with him.
Interestingly, there does not appear to be a clear replay of this play available. Television coverage did not have nearly as many cameras during that time as they do now. As soon as Griese threw the ball, the shot went to the pass falling short of Kiick and nearly being intercepted. The camera then moved back to Griese calmly sitting on the field waiting for the trainer and doctor to tend to him. He was not writhing in pain. Compare that to the incessant replays that were shown of Joe Theismann’s leg being broken on a hit from Lawrence Taylor 13 years later.
Griese said the following week that, “It was a good, legitimate hit.” That had not stopped East from approaching Paul Warfield during the stoppage in play and saying, “Tell Bob I’m sorry. I think I hit him with my helmet,” something which was perfectly legal then.
Not having a clear camera shot of the play caused confusion over who had actually administered the damaging blow. Since Deacon Jones had come in high, he was who most people saw and, therefore, assumed had done the damage to Griese.
Offensive tackle Norm Evans was responsible for blocking Jones on that play. He first heard the official diagnosis of the injury on his way home from the game. He pulled over on the side of I-95 and threw up, telling his wife, “It’s my fault. I got beat. My man broke Bob’s ankle. I’ve cost us the season.”
Griese related the story of running into Jones at a Hall of Fame event where Deacon pleaded with him, “Bob, you need to tell everyone the truth again. People are still giving me hell about breaking your leg. Can you tell everyone it wasn’t me?”
The quarterback mantle was now passed to Earl Morrall. At 38 years old, he was the same age as his offensive coordinator, Howard Schellenberger and seven years older than his next oldest teammate.
Morrall had become one of the most popular players in the locker room he was a very hard person not to like. He responded very good naturedly to steady ribbing about his age, starting with a rocking chair being placed in front of his locker when he first came to the team. It was no surprise, then, that defensive end Bill Stanfill’s encouraging message to him was, “Old man, get those cataracts in motion, turn up the hearing aid, and let’s go!”
After two plays with Morrall at the helm, Miami settled for a 37-yard field goal from Garo Yepremian to take a 3-0 lead.
San Diego, sporting a 2-1-1 record coming into this game, was no longer the flashy bombs-away offensive team that Sid Gilman had coached in the AFL days. Harland Savare, a defensive-oriented coach in the mold of George Allen, had taken over the job the prior season and built a strong defense while putting in a more conservative offensive system. Quarterback John Hadl now relied on a strong ground game anchored by AFC leading rusher Mike Garrett and short throws to him and his backfield mate Cid Edwards.
It was that grinding offensive approach that the Chargers used on a 76-yard, 11-play drive down to the Dolphins’ 4-yard line. Miami’s defense held and Dennis Partee kicked a 12-yard field goal (the goalposts were still on the goal line, not the back of the endzone) to tie the score at 3-3.
Momentum turned in the Dolphins’ favor two series later, when Hadl and Garrett failed to connect on a handoff. Garrett bobbled the ball for a moment, then tipped it up in the air…right into the arms of Dolphins safety Dick Anderson. He never broke stride and scored on a 34-yard fumble return to put Miami back out in front 10-3. Radio play-by-play man Rick Weaver said after Anderson’s score, “When your star quarterback gets hurt, the defense takes over and scores a touchdown for you. That’s the way it should be and the way a balanced team should operate”
From that point until the game was basically decided, the Dolphins’ defense shut down San Diego. Predictably, Miami turned to their powerful running game, finishing with 39 rushing attempts and only 13 passes. Morrall was effective, completing 8 out of 10 passes, two of them for touchdowns, He found Howard Twilley wide open in the right corner of the end zone for an 18-yard score in the second quarter, and connected on a similar play in the left corner with Paul Warfield for a 19-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Warfield’s touchdown pushed the Dolphins’ lead out to 24-3. Oddly, the Chargers continued with their methodical play-calling, answering the Dolphins’ last touchdown with a 14-play, 9:14 drive, but Partee missed a 40-yard field goal. San Diego did find the end zone with 4:46 to play, but never got the ball back as Miami subsequently ran out the clock.
Griese had arrived at the hospital early in the second quarter and was quickly settled into a room. His wife and Howard Twilley’s wife had followed him from the Orange Bowl. Someone at the hospital had found a transistor radio that allowed Griese to keep up with the game. When he saw Twilley’s wife, he said, “What are you doing here? I heard on the radio your husband just scored a touchdown!”
The ambulance attendants later commented on how nice Griese was on the trip to the hospital, and that they had wanted to get an autograph but couldn’t find a pencil.
Back in the somber Dolphins locker room, Don Shula was resolute because, well, he was Don Freakin’ Shula. “The mark of a good team is how it performs in adversity, and there can be no greater adversity than having your quarterback laid out in front of you.”
The prognosis for Griese’s return to action was not good. The initial estimate was 6-8 weeks optimistically, and there were but nine weeks remaining in the season (no bye week).
For better or worse, Miami’s hopes rode on Earl Morral. This was not uncharted water for the veteran. He had stepped in for an injured Johnny Unitas with the Baltimore Colts in 1968. Morral started every game that season, led the Colts to a 13-1 record, and was named NFL MVP. Not bad work for a backup, even though he is remembered most for his poor showing against Joe Namath’s Jets in that year’s Super Bowl.
The old man had gotten off to a good start in his latest relief role and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
One down, perhaps the rest of the season to go.
Coming Next Week: Part 13 – A Zany Win
Against the visiting Bills, the Dolphins lost the ball, their coach lost his poise, the officials blew a critical call…and Miami won anyway.
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