More than 40 years after beating Washington, the 1972 Miami Dolphins are finally heading to Washington.
The only undefeated and untied team in NFL history didn't get a White House invitation from President Nixon. But they have one from President Obama.
It was announced Tuesday those 17-0 Dolphins will be honored next Tuesday at the White House. Jim Kiick, a running back on the team, said Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is picking up air fare and hotel bill for members of the 1972 team who want to go to Washington. Nearly all the surviving members are expected to fly in Monday, and a dinner will be held that night.
"That is really classy of Mr. Ross," said Kiick, who scored a touchdown when the Dolphins beat the Redskins 14-7 to win Super Bowl VIII on Jan. 14, 1973. "We've been waiting for this for 40 years. It will be an honor to go to the White House."
When the Dolphins won the Super Bowl to conclude their perfect season and Nixon was in office, championship sports teams didn't routinely visit the White House like they do today. The Dolphins also didn't go after winning Super Bowl VIII the next year to conclude a 15-2 season.
But Marv Fleming, a tight end on the legendary 1972 Dolphins, was determined to get that team a visit to the White House. For the past 15 years, during presidential administrations of Clinton, Bush and Obama, he had been working on it.
"I had been writing letters and talking to senators and congressmen and anybody who knew somebody in Washington," Fleming said. "All these teams (that won titles) have been going to the White House and we hadn't gone even though we had the best team ever."
After not getting too far in his mission, Fleming early last year attended a party hosted by Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, who died earlier this year. He told former Redskins tackle George Starke of his quest to get the 1972 Dolphins to the White House. Starke had been on Washington's taxi squad as a rookie that season, so he didn't actually face the Dolphins in the Super Bowl.
"I said, 'How much do you know (about inside dealings in Washington)?' " Fleming said. "He said, 'I know more than you think I know. That's because my wife is a White House lawyer.' I said, 'You're kidding me.' And he said, 'Marvin, talking to my wife is what you need to do rather than pushing a lot of papers and writing a lot of letters.' "
Sure, enough, Petra Starke ended up making the difference. The Dolphins weren't able to visit Obama last year during the 40th anniversary of their perfection but a spot opened up this month. Word then arrived last week that the Dolphins would be heading to Washington.
"The walls of the White House had been calling us for 41 years," said Fleming, now a motivational speaker who lives in the Los Angeles area. "I knew we'd get there one of these days."
There are six players off the 1972 Dolphins who are deceased. Fleming said just about all the living players off the team will be in Washington. Also on hand will be head coach Don Shula and top assistant Howard Schnellenberger.
"This is just a tremendous moment for the Miami Dolphins organization and all the members of the 1972 team," said Hall of Famer Paul Warfield, a wide receiver on the team. "This is something we have been waiting for all of these years. This is just a tremendous honor to be able to go visit the President of the United States."
The 1972 Dolphins, who went 14-0 during the regular season and won all three of their playoff games, have generally held reunions every five years. The latest was the 40th last December at a home game against Jacksonville.
"This will be our 41st reunion," Kiick said. "Marv Fleming had felt we were shafted that we'd never been to the White House when all these other teams had. So I'm grateful he put in a lot into getting us there."
And who would have thought a former Redskin ending up making the difference?
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com
or on Twitter @christomasson.
