The Miami Dolphins joined the American professional football league in 1966. Initially, they played as part of the AFL before the two big leagues merged 5 years down the line. Following the merger, the Miami Dolphins featured in the AFC East Division, which is where they remain even today.
The 1970 move coincided with the appointment of Head Coach Don Shula, who remained with the franchise for the next 25 years.
Under Shula’s tutelage, the Miami Dolphins cobbled together the NFL’s first, and to date, the only perfect season in 1972.
Following Shula’s departure, the team’s stock dwindled from the lofty heights that were synonymous with them. Despite a decline, the Dolphins are the only team to deny Tom Brady’s New England Patriots the divisional title. They achieved the honor in 2008.
In 2019, under Head Coach Brian Flores, the franchise finished rock bottom in the AFC East with a 5-11 record. Despite their showing, they could not secure the top draft pick for the 4th time in franchise history.
The Miami Dolphins held the top-draft pick 3 times. The first occasion was in the 1966 AFL draft where they drafted Illinois’ Running Back, Jim Grabowski. However, he opted to ply his trade in the NFL.
The second top-draft pick headed to Miami 42 years later in the 2008 NFL season. Here they added Michigan’s Offensive Tackle, Jake Long, to their roster.
The Miami Dolphins rounded off their 2020 campaign with a 10-6 record and placed second overall in the AFC East. Moreover, they managed to improve on their 2019 record, which came in at 5-11 after beginning the season 1-3.
Joe Robbie served as the original owner and founder of the team till 1990. Currently, the team owner is Stephen M. Ross. He purchased a majority of the franchise during the 2009 NFL season. At the time, he owned 95% of the team.
Ross has a net worth of $7.6 billion in 2020 ranking him 185 on the Forbes Billionaires List in 2020. He’s also the majority owner of The Related Companies, a global real estate development firm that was founded in 1972.
Miami Dolphins have won the divisional championship on 13 occasions. In 5 of those seasons, the franchise claimed the conference title. Furthermore, they hold a 2-3 Super Bowl record and are one of just 8 teams to win the season-ending game in consecutive seasons.
Two players have won the NFL MVP award as part of the Miami Dolphins. They are Safety Jake Scott for the 1973 NFL season and Running Back Larry Csonka for the 1974 NFL season.
The Miami Dolphins made their first logo with a dolphin. In the original versions of the logo, a helmet-clad dolphin was seen leaping out of the water. It was framed with the sun at its back.
The logo embraced Miami’s coastline and thriving aquatic life. Over the years, the franchise retained the core elements with a few tweaks.
In 1997, the Miami Dolphins made the dolphin prominent and focused on sharper rays of the sun.
Ahead of their 48th season, the Miami Dolphins changed things around. They introduced a new logo. Here the dolphin was seen without a helmet and was swimming in preparation to leap out of the water.
Ahead of the 2018 NFL season, the franchise tweaked their logo yet again. The navy blue infusion lasted just 5 seasons, while the designers darkened the color of the sun.
Florida Technical College is the official culinary school of the Miami Dolphins to serve South Florida families in need. FTC aims to provide meals to South Florida communities and emphasizes the importance of positively contributing to their neighboring communities. Not to mention, Monkey Knife Fight partnered with the Dolphins as the official fantasy sports site. They teamed up to donate $100, 000 to the Dolphins Foundation’s Food Relief Program.
The franchise also announced a deal with RoofClaim.com and will be featured on the 3rd-down video board every time the team makes a 3rd-down stop. Moreover, RoofClaim.com will donate $1,000 to the Dolphins franchise.
The roster following 2020’s regular-season comprises 2 quarterbacks, 5 running backs, 6 wide receivers, 3 tight ends, 9 offensive linemen, 6 defensive linemen, 7 linebackers, 11 defensive backs, and 3 special team players.
| Quarterbacks | 5 Jake Rudock 1 Tua Tagovailoa |
| Running Backs | 22 Matt Breida 37 Myles Gaskin 26 Salvon Ahmed 31 DeAndre Washington 32 Patrick Laird |
| Wide Receivers | 15 Lynn Bowden 84 Isaiah Ford 19 Jakeem Grant RS 86 Mack Hollins 11 DeVante Parker 10 Malcolm Perry |
| Tight Ends | 8 Mike Gesicki 80 Adam Shaheen 81 Durham Smythe |
| Offensive Linemen | 70 Julién Davenport T 77 Jesse Davis T 68 Robert Hunt T 73 Austin Jackson T 63 Michael Deiter C 67 Ted Karras C 75 Ereck Flowers G 66 Solomon Kindley G 78 Adam Pankey G |
| Defensive Linemen | 98 Raekwon Davis NT 95 Benito Jones NT 91 Emmanuel Ogbah DE 92 Zach Sieler DE 58 Jason Strowbridge DE 94 Christian Wilkins DE/FB |
| Linebackers | 55 Jerome Baker ILB 48 Calvin Munson ILB 51 Kamu Grugier-Hill ILB 49 Samuel Eguavoen OLB 90 Shaq Lawson OLB 43 Andrew Van Ginkel OLB 53 Kyle Van Noy OLB |
| Defensive Backs | 42 Clayton Fejedelem SS 36 Nate Holley S 35 Kavon Frazier FS 25 Xavien Howard CB 23 Noah Igbinoghene 29 Brandon Jones FS 24 Byron Jones CB 28 Bobby McCain FC 40 Nik Needham CB 33 Jamal Perry CB 21 Eric Rowe SS |
| Special Teams | 50 Blake Ferguson LS 2 Matt Haack P/H 7 Jason Sanders K |
The franchise has several programs aimed at community outreach, which includes the Dolphins Social Impact Committee, Lennar Foundation, who joined hands to sponsor Florida Memorial University Certificate Program in Construction Trades. Moreover, the Dolphins Foundation distributes 6,500 meals ahead of Christmas.
Additionally, the Dolphins committed $75 million to cancer research at Sylvester Comprehensive Center. Not to mention, Tua Tagovailoa had an impactful year on the outreach front as he helped the rookie class in helping the community this holiday season.
| Founded | 1965 |
| Owner | Stephen M. Ross |
| CEO | Tom Garfinkel |
| Head Coach | Brian Flores |
| Stadium | Hard Rock Stadium |
| Location | Miami Gardens, Florida |
| Sponsors | RoofClaim.com, Monkey Knife Fight, Florida Technical College, Litecoin Foundation, Swish Beverages |
| Championships | League championships (2) Super Bowl championships (2) 1972 (VII), 1973 (VIII) Conference championships (5) AFC: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984 Division championships (13) AFC East: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2008 |
| Official Website | Miami Dolphins- www.miamidolphins.com |