The Miami Dolphins are an NFL football staple in the football fan’s mind. A household name, the Dolphins have accomplished a lot in their forty-three years as a team, including:
o Two Super Bowl Championships – 1972 and 1973
o Five Conference Championships
o 12 Division Championships
Despite the success the Dolphins have had, many lose sight of how this AFC team got its start in the NFL. This article will briefly cover the childhood of the Miami Dolphins as a soccer powerhouse.
The franchise
The Miami Dolphins started out like most football teams, as an expansion team. This extension of the American Football League was a franchise courtesy of actor Danny Thomas (“Make Room For Daddy,” “The Danny Thomas Hour”) and attorney Joseph Robbie. The team was awarded to the two for just seven dollars and fifty cents, however Danny would later sell his share to Joseph Robbie.
In 1965, in order to name the team, a contest was held to officially name the new licensed franchise. More than nineteen thousand proposals from more than a thousand people were sent. A seven-member committee made up of local media, titles such as Mustangs, Mariners, Sharks, Suns, Marauders, Moons and Missiles were judged, contributed by a dozen finalists.
A West Miami resident, Mrs. Robert Swanson, won the contest with her nickname. With her input, Ms. Swanson also earned lifetime passes to the Dolphins by predicting the score, a 0-0 tie, of the 1965 Notre Dame v. Miami University game.
The logo
The logo for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League debuted in 1966. The logo consisted of the dolphin’s head, positioned so that the head was near the center of the sun’s glare. Sometimes referred to as “The Fish”, due to the team’s name and mascot, this has given way to the fact that dolphins are in fact mammals, not fish.