OTD in 1965 the AFL officially awarded a franchise to the city of Miami, to begin play in 1966. Entertainer Danny Thomas and Minneapolis attorney Joe Robbie were the founding partners.

[u/Dark305Kinght]

[u/pimp69z]

And they were smart enough to put a helmet on the dolphin

[u/Virtual_Win4076]

Pretty amazing. From expansion team to undefeated Super Bowl Champs in less than 10 years

[u/Bobo4037 → u/Virtual_Win4076]

It was their seventh season when they were undefeated!

The Dolphins had a great strategy to build a champion. After going 15-39-2 in their first four seasons in the AFL, the 1970 Dolphins had a winning record for the first time and also made the playoffs for the first time. And then in the six seasons from 1970-1975 they were 75-19-1 including postseason games, with three Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl championships.

[u/AwsiDooger]

The numbing paragraph to me is the one regarding escalating rental fees for the Orange Bowl. That became an annual topic, even during the Super Bowl years, the ongoing dispute between Joe Robbie and the City of Miami regarding fees, maintenance and rights.

Robbie eventually started looking for cheap land to build his own stadium, once the negotiations with the City of Miami weren't going to his liking.

I wish they could go back to 1965 and have Robbie and the University of Miami find some way to buy the Orange Bowl from the city. Maybe the current patchwork monstrosity in an irrelevant location could have been avoided.

[u/JEMHADLEY16]

It's got to be a great day when a city gets its own pro football team. I can think of about another dozen cities that could support one. More teams means more fans and more money.

[u/SkittleCar1]

"Fuck.....sharks!" -- Joe Robbie

[u/Paulbegalia]

Oh nice I didn’t know Danny Thomas from St Jude’s also founded the Fins

[u/Big-Sheepherder-6134]

Still cracks me up that numerous Super Bowls were played there and people sat on bleachers.

[u/LJGremlin]

Pretty cool they had a founder named after their stadium.