OVERVIEW
Starting in 1970, Coach Don Shula turned the Miami Dolphins from being the perennial doormat of the NFL into one of the most dominant teams ever to play in the NFL. At the same time, Pete Rozelle, the NFL's Commissioner, was changing the enterprise from being just a football league into one of the greatest entertainment businesses in the world. In Rise of the Dolphins, these two events are seen through the eyes of Doug Swift, the unlikely starting strongside linebacker for the Dolphins' famous 1970-1975 "No Name Defense." For old fans, Swift's recollections will bring back memories of many of the League's biggest stars and some of the greatest games ever played — not only in the '70s, but also in the entire history of the NFL. For current fans, Rise of the Dolphins will connect many of the dots about how the NFL got to where it is today. Either way, this book is an interesting, insightful, and at times humorous read for anyone who cares about football and the NFL.
RISE OF THE DOLPHINS - REVIEWS
Dave Morine's new book on the "Rise of the Dolphins" is a compelling account of the team that went from the "doormat of the league" to the "perfect season." This book is thoroughly researched and very well written.
A team, a town, and a time in the NFL that should not be forgotten. The book brings to life an interesting era in pro football and specifically one player that went from Super Bowl to medical school. A very enjoyable read!
Few will put down this well-written football story! Very engaging and informative. A real pleasure!
The Rise of the Dolphins is an entertaining story of the unlikely success of the 1970’s Miami Dolphins Super Bowl Team as seen through the lens of an unlikely participant, Doug Swift, the first player ever to play professional football from little Amherst College. Swift, an undrafted walk-on with the Dolphins, was a Fine Arts major at Amherst who went on to become an anesthesiologist on a heart transplant team after his six years in Miami. The book will be appreciated by not only sports historians and pro football fans, but also by readers who enjoy well-told stories of unlikely journeys and unexpected heroes.
A great read for any sports fan. Swift's journey makes for a fascinating odyssey.
I got “The Rise of the Dolphins” yesterday and before starting to read it entirely I keep popping it open to random places. Always interesting at every random page! Great research, highly readable, thoroughly interesting, great context of the times we lived in.
Doug Swift leading the No-Name linebackers against the Steelers
MORE REVIEWS
“The Rise of the Dolphins” is much more than the story of one unlikely player (Doug Swift) from one unlikely small college team (Amherst) and his role in the turn-around of one unlikely NFL team (the Miami Dolphins) as it becomes a team with one perfect season and three Super Bowl championships over a period of six years. Clearly the No-Names (which so many players will always be) evolved into named defensive and offensive heroes. But far more, this story recounts the personal journey of Doug Swift’s six years as an outstanding linebacker who went on to become a doctor. Not only does this book recount the life of a football player from rookie to hero to has-been, but it traces the transition of football and its evolution into our nation's greatest spectator sport and business. Yet the price is steep with the expectation of having to play through pain, experiencing crippling injury and fearing brain damage in later years. This detailed narrative comes from well in the past and brings back rich memories and familiar names of coaches as well as players. But it invites complex questions about the future.
“Rise of the Dolphins” by Dave Morine is an entertaining read, with an inside look at Miami’s rise to football greatness in the 1970’s. Led by the legendary Don Shula, the book goes well beyond the X’s and O’s of this extraordinary football team and delves into the characters and culture of the famous “No Name Defense” as well as the trials and tribulations of Doug Swift, who came out of division three Amherst College in New England to become a linchpin of this marauding squad. Morine is able to pull together fascinating and often hilarious anecdotes and insight as we are able to see the team rise from perennial losers to attain the highest of heights, “the perfect season” of 1972. “Rise of the Dolphins” will bring back a flood of memories as it tells a tale that may have gone unnoticed at the time, the tale of those men behind the helmets, achieving a level of greatness that still stands today as the benchmark, nearly fifty years later.