The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami, Florida metropolitan area. They currently belong to the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins began play in the American Football League as a 1966 expansion team, and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.

In 1972, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season to date in the Super Bowl era, winning every regular season game, two playoff games and Super Bowl VII. The team also won Super Bowl VIII and has appeared in 3 other Super Bowls.

Uniform colors: Aqua Green and Orange (Dark Blue was added to the logo and uniforms as an accent color in the late 90's by then coach, Jimmy Johnson). The Dolphins primarily wear white jerseys at home, except for night contests when they dress in aqua jerseys. Since the 2003 season, the Dolphins have worn an alternate orange jersey once each season for home Monday Night Football contests. They are 2-0 in games wearing the alternate jersey. They did not wear the orange jerseys in their 40th season, because they had no Monday games.

For most of their history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the winningest head coach in professional football history. His Dolphins teams posted losing records in only 2 of his 26 seasons with the club. In 1972 the Dolphins became the first and only NFL team to complete a 14-game regular season (and the entire postseason) without a loss during the Super Bowl era, and fourth in NFL history (Canton and Chicago did so as well). Five future Hall of Fame members played for Miami during the 1970s, including running back Larry Csonka and quarterback Bob Griese. During the 1980s and 1990s quarterback Dan Marino became the most prolific passer in NFL history, breaking numerous league passing records. He led the Dolphins to numerous playoff appearances and Super Bowl XIX.

Miami joined the American Football League (AFL) when an expansion team franchise was awarded to lawyer Joseph Robbie and actor Danny Thomas in 1965. A contest was held in 1965 to find the name of the new Miami franchise for the American Football League. 19,843 entries were submitted with over a thousand different names. A dozen finalists were screened through by a seven-member committee made up of the local media, names considered included the Mariners, Marauders, Mustangs, Missiles, Moons, Sharks, and Suns. The winning name, "Dolphins," was submitted by 622 entrants. Mrs. Roberta Swanson of West Miami won lifetime passes to Dolphin games when her nickname entry successfully predicted the winner and score of the 1965 football game between Notre Dame and the University of Miami, a scoreless tie.

"The dolphin is one of the fastest and smartest creatures of the sea," Joe Robbie said in announcing the team name on October 8, 1965. "Dolphins can attack and kill a shark or a whale. Sailors say bad luck will come to anyone who harms one of them."

The Dolphins began play in 1966, and after four consecutive losing seasons, Don Shula replaced George Wilson as head coach. Miami joined the NFL in 1970 when the NFL and AFL completed their merger.

The Dolphins were a successful team during the early 1970s, capturing the AFC championship in 1971 behind quarterback Bob Griese and wide receiver Paul Warfield. The AFC Divisional Playoff Game, in which the Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, was the longest contest in NFL history (82 minutes 40 seconds). In Super Bowl VI, however, Miami lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24-3.

In 1972 the Dolphins completed the NFL's first and only perfect season, winning every regular season game, two playoff games and Super Bowl VII, defeating the Washington Redskins 14-7. (The 1948 Cleveland Browns had accomplished this, but as members of the All-America Football Conference.) During this season, Griese and veteran quarterback Earl Morrall shared the passing duties, and running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to rush for more than 1,000 yards each. The offensive line included future Hall of Fame members Jim Langer and Larry Little and Pro Bowler Bob Kuechenberg. The 1972 Dolphins defensive unit, called the No-Name Defense because Miami’s impressive offense received much more publicity, was the league’s best that year. It was led by linebacker Nick Buoniconti, end Bill Stanfill, and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott.

The Dolphins won 12 games during the 1973 season and repeated as NFL Champions, beating the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 in Super Bowl VIII. Miami reached the playoffs again in 1974 but lost in the first round to the Oakland Raiders. After the disappointing defeat, several players, including Csonka, Warfield, and running back Jim Kiick, joined the short-lived World Football League. The Dolphins managed to win ten games in 1975, aided by Griese’s consistency and the fine play of wide receiver Nat Moore. They did not make the playoffs however, losing on a tiebreaker to the Baltimore Colts.

Miami rebounded from a losing record in 1976 by winning ten or more games in four of the next five seasons. Shula built a solid defense around a new set of stars, including linebacker A. J. Duhe and linemen Bob Baumhower and Doug Betters. The Dolphins went 10-4 again in 1977, but again lost the division title (and playoff spot) to the Colts. They made the playoffs as a wild card in 1978, but lost in the first round to the Houston Oilers.

Csonka returned to the Dolphins in time for the 1979 season. After winning the division with a 10-6 record, the Dolphins lost the divisional playoff to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Steelers.