When the Dolphins host the Steelers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the home team will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 17-0 team from 1972. They’ll be wearing their awesome throwback uniforms.
Unlike former Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who preferred the old-school look to the current base uniform, current Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel doesn’t lean one way or the other.
“I like winning jerseys,” McDaniel told reporters on Wednesday. “I like everyone to have the same jersey. I find value in both. I really do. And that speaks to the history of the ‘72 Dolphins because there is a feeling that those jerseys and that uniform elicits. And not just ‘72 but all of the things that have gone on since that are really great things. So it is nice. I like wearing them as a change of pace. I also really do like our uniforms, especially when it’s hot out and we’re in all white.”
It won’t be as hot on Sunday night as it has been for the team’s other home games, and the Dolphins won’t benefit from the sharp temperature difference between their sideline, which is shaded, and their opponent’s sideline, which is in the sun.
It’s fitting that the Dolphins are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1972 team against Pittsburgh. Miami beat the Steelers to advance to the Super Bowl, one week after the Immaculate Reception. That game was played at Three Rivers Stadium because, at the time, home-field advantage was determined not by record but by a rotation.
And it’s good that Flores likes the throwbacks. He’ll be back in the building for the game, since he’s currently an assistant coach with the Steelers.
