There was an article in today's Sun-Sentinal posted by NYJUNC in which a Dolphins beat writer mentions that the Dolphins have been one of the worst pro franchises over the past 14 years. Apparantly 90 of 121 professional sports franchises have reached at least one championship game - the Dolphins are not one of them....
I remember the kool-aid that Jet's fans were still drinking in 1974 before Namath went to the Rams. It's really hard to take a fan base that is accustomed to winning and thinking of themselves as winners and readjust their expectations. 14 years is a shocking number for me. I would have put the beginning of the Dolphins decline at about 2000 or thereabouts. Obviously that was just when the outward signs started to show up.
Well, I remember them getting to the AFC championship game in 1992 and getting blown out by the Bills at home. The following year was when Marino blew out his achilles and they missed the playoffs. The next couple of years were Shula's last and they would make the playoffs as a wild card and lose the first game. Then JJ showed up and they got players like Thomas and Taylor but every other draft pick especially the RB's seemed to bust and before you knew it Marino declined, retired a couple of years too late and his last game was that 62-7 drubbing by Jax. Then Wanndstadt showed up and that's when the decline really became evident. Bottome line the Dolphins always managed alot of 8-8 and 9-7 seasons because of the hot weather and the other team's melting in Sept. Nov-Dec you could always count on Miami choking the last 10 years no matter who the coach was...
