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Latest Mercury Morris Stories

Glass Half Full: Going 0-16 Doesn't Have to Be All Bad

Posted: Dec 27th 2008 10:45AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Lions, NFC North, NFL Fans

1 COMMENT
The now 0-15 Lions have many believing that a winless season is not only possible, but probable. This is 0for08, FanHouse's eye on the Detroit Lions and their quest for a winless season.

A year ago, the Patriots were a game away from a perfect run through the regular season and just three games from duplicating what the '72 Dolphins hoped they'd never to see: another team matching their undefeated season.

The Giants monkey-wrenched the whole thing and somehow Mercury Morris avoided death by schadenfreude. But before New York pulled off one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets in recent years, the Patriots were scrambling to capitalize on the marketing opportunities that go along with a historic 19-0 season. Which inevitably led to stuff like this.

While no team came close to perfection this season (the Titans won their first 11 games before losing), the Lions (or, more likely, their fans) could be sitting on a gold mine as they attempt to become the first NFL franchise in the history of man to (avoid) go(ing) 0-16.

CNBC.com's Darren Rovell points out that despite Lions wideout Calvin Johnson ranking just 75th in jersey sales, bitter, disgruntled Detroit fans have created a market for merchandise highlighting the team's futility.
Continue Reading Glass Half Full: Going 0-16 Doesn't Have to Be All Bad

The 1976 Buccaneers Would Like to See the Lions Win a Game

Posted: Dec 16th 2008 4:35PM by Adam Gretz (author feed)
Filed under: Lions, NFL Fans

78 COMMENTS
The now 0-14 Lions have many believing that a winless season is not only possible, but probable. This is 0for08, FanHouse's eye on the Detroit Lions and their quest for a winless season.

Every year, the 1972 Dolphins, owners of the only perfect season in NFL history, get together and celebrate when the final undefeated team in the NFL suffers its first defeat. The event is basically a bunch of retired football players drinking champagne, and Mercury Morris talking smack on the Patriots.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the last team to finish an entire NFL season without a win, and they've taken some interest -- as we all have -- in the 2008 Detroit Lions who have already matched the '76 Bucs (and 1980 Saints) as the only teams to go 0-14.



With two games to play this season, the Lions are hoping to avoid the first 0-16 season in NFL history, and members of that infamous Tampa Bay team are rooting for them to win a game. Any game. Just one. For the love of all that is holy, just win one game!

From John Niyo of the Detroit News:
Continue Reading The 1976 Buccaneers Would Like to See the Lions Win a Game

Mercury Morris Is Really Impressed With This Tennessee Titans Football Team

Posted: Nov 17th 2008 3:00PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Titans, AFC East, AFC South

3 COMMENTS


I know what some of you are thinking: it's not the '72 Dolphins' fault if the media calls them up for their opinions about whichever team might be undefeated. It happens every year, usually around Week 6 or so. Last season, it became obvious early that the old-timers, like just about everybody else outside New England, were praying to the god of schadenfreude for a Patriots loss. It took 19 games, but it finally happened, and we all lived happily ever after or something.

We're 11 weeks into the '08 season and the Titans are the last of the unbeatens, now 10-0 after thumping the Jaguars yesterday. And lucky for us, Mercury Morris, a running back and unofficial spokesperson from the '72 Dolphins squad, has some thoughts on the matter.

Interestingly, unlike the '07 Patriots, Morris is a fan of this Tennessee team. Probably because the media considers them something of an afterthought.
"If the Titans show up [in the Super Bowl with a perfect record], they would be exactly like we were. Nobody believed after the 10th game, the 12th game, the 16th game," Morris said on ESPN's First Take on Monday. ...

"The Patriots, you people were crowning them after the second game and the season was a formality. I kept trying to tell you," Morris said on First Take.
Yes, thank God Morris was there to remind us -- seemingly every day -- that the Patriots weren't who we thought they were. His motives were noble, indeed.

'72 Dolphins, Desperately Trying to Remain Relevant, Are Not Impressed With '08 Titans

Posted: Oct 29th 2008 2:10PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Titans, NFL Fans

10 COMMENTS

For the four people who are even aware of the 1972 Dolphins, here's the latest from the last team to go undefeated for an entire season: the only remaining unbeaten team in 2008, the Tennessee Titans = YAWN.

I think it's fair to say that nobody figures the Titans to be 18-0 in three month's time, but they're still a very good football team, arguably the best in the NFL. Well, the '72 Dolphins are not impressed. Not even a little bit:
"I don't think they're that good," former Dolphins running back Jim Kiick said after watching the Titans-Colts game. "In all honesty, I'm not really concerned. They're seven games in and have a long way to go. I can't knock them because they have won every game, but I can't imagine them doing it. They're no Patriots."
And then there's this, from former Dolphins defensive end Manny Fernandez: "There's no need to pay attention ... I can't even tell you what the name of their quarterback is." Great point, Manny ... wait, who are you again?

Perhaps most surprising is that Mercury Morris, one of the 2007 Patriots' biggest critics, not only has nice things to say about the Titans, he's actually pulling for them.
Continue Reading '72 Dolphins, Desperately Trying to Remain Relevant, Are Not Impressed With '08 Titans

'72 Dolphins Still Only Residents of Perfectville

Posted: Feb 4th 2008 6:09PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, NY Giants, Patriots, Overpaid NFL Players, Boston, Miami, New York

18 COMMENTS
Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

On Friday I met some members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated, untied champions in NFL history. There's a part of me that finds it unseemly that the '72 Dolphins constantly seek attention, but there's also a part of me that thinks this Reebok "Perfectville" commercial is pretty funny:

The Perfectville campaign had two commercials ready, one in case the Giants won the Super Bowl and one in case the Patriots won. No word on what the commercial in which Mercury Morris welcomes the Patriots to the neighborhood looks like.

Mercury Morris Misses the Point on 1972 Dolphins' Super Bowl Underdog Status

Posted: Feb 2nd 2008 7:59AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Patriots, Boston, Super Bowl, Miami

8 COMMENTS
Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

Mercury Morris, the running back from the undefeated 1972 Dolphins who has become a minor celebrity over the past few months by never missing a chance to tell America that his team is better than the 2007 Patriots, has been trotting out a new line lately: "We were the underdogs."

In his promotional appearances for the Reebok "Perfectville" advertising campaign, Morris has been pointing out that even though they were undefeated, the Dolphins were actually underdogs in Super Bowl VII to the Washington Redskins. And it's true: Depending on where you look, contemporary sources indicate that the Redskins were favored by either one or two points.

The point Morris wants to make, I guess, is that everyone likes the underdog, so you should like the 1972 Dolphins. But what I don't think Morris realizes is that if most people thought his team would lose against the 1972 Redskins, that's not a point in their favor. After watching the 1972 Dolphins go 16-0, most people at the time thought they would lose the Super Bowl. What does that say about the 1972 Dolphins?

'72 Dolphins Cling to Fame Like Grim Death

Posted: Feb 1st 2008 12:36PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Patriots, Boston, Super Bowl, Miami

9 COMMENTS

Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

As the players from the 1972 Miami Dolphins will tell you over and over and over again, they are the only team that has ever finished an NFL season with a perfect record. But that could change on Sunday, as a Patriots victory in the Super Bowl would make New England the second perfect team in history.

So the '72 Dolphins are pulling out all the stops this week in Phoenix, appearing at events to remind people, for what may be the last time, that they were perfect and no one else has ever been. Today four members of the Dolphins appeared at a promotional event for a new Reebok marketing campaign called Perfectville; above are '72 Dolphins players Jim Kiick, Mercury Morris, Garo Yepremian and Larry Little.
Continue Reading '72 Dolphins Cling to Fame Like Grim Death

42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII: #20 - Super Bowl Ring Stories

Posted: Jan 28th 2008 12:00AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: NFL Media Watch, Super Bowl, ESPN

2 COMMENTS

The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII.

ESPN.com is doing a neat story about Super Bowl rings. They go through all of the previous 41 Super Bowls and tell a story about a championship ring from each of those games.

They cover everything from the Packers Jerry Kramer losing his Super Bowl I ring and his quest to get it back to the Colts' Adam Vinatieri receiving his fourth ring last year.

There is the story of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who wears all his Super Bowl rings ... at the same time ... whenever he's due to collect a new one. So, if the Patriots win Super Bowl XLII, he will show up with his three Super Bowl rins with the Patriots and two with the New York Giants.

There is the Dolphins' Mercury Morris losing his Super Bowl VII ring ... then losing his replacement. There is Don Shula's Super Bowl VIII ring making a cameo in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. There is the Raiders' Skip Thomas who pawned his Super Bowl XI ring to try to pay for his house (it didn't get enough). The Steelers' Rocky Bleier who leased his rings out to keep them from his divorce settlement ... then had them stolen from him from a dressing room.

Continue Reading 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII: #20 - Super Bowl Ring Stories

Shula Regrets Ever Commenting on Spygate

Posted: Jan 26th 2008 12:02PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Patriots, NFL Fans

1 COMMENT
Remember back in November, when former Dolphins head coach and Hall of Famer Don Shula said this:
The Spygate thing has diminished what they've accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They've got it ... Belichick was fined $500,000, the team was fined $250,00 and they lost a first-round draft choice. That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found.
Shula later backed off those remarks, and now he's sorry he ever opened his mouth.
"I'm probably not the guy that should have said it ... I think a lot of people, when I said it, perceived it as helping yourself," Shula said. ...

"Somebody else probably should have done it instead of me, because people thought it was self-serving when I did it."
Yeah, somebody like, say, Mercury Morris. He seems impartial. I mean, when he's not making hard-to-follow points about the greatness of the '72 Dolphins, he's actually got some nice things to say about the '07 Patriots:
"It was one game. It happened. I don't think their season should be defined out of that mishap," Morris said. "They soon realized they're so good, they didn't have to have that small advantage they tried to get. In hindsight, I'm sure they wish they hadn't done that."
Of course, none of this matters if the Giants win the Super Bowl; everything can return to normal and a team full of old timers can get down to the business of chugging champagne.

Eli Manning Plays for 30 Minutes, Tom Brady Plays for 60; Patriots Win, Go 16-0

Posted: Dec 29th 2007 11:17PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: NY Giants, Patriots, AFC East, NFC East, NFL Fans

33 COMMENTS

Nothing like a little drama before the inevitable. The New York Giants, like the Colts, Eagles and Ravens before them, put up a valiant effort. But in the end, well, the Patriots were just too much. That and Eli Manning realized he was Eli Manning, throwing a costly interception midway through the fourth quarter with New York trailing by three points.

On New England's go-ahead touchdown -- which had just as much to do with Giants safety James Butler going coverage-optional on Randy Moss as it did with a great Tom Brady pass -- both Moss and Brady set single-season touchdown records. Moss for receptions (23), and Brady for throws (50).

After Laurence Maroney punched it in from five yards out, the Patriots led by 10 points with just under five minutes to go in the game. Manning threw a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 1:04 on the clock, but the onside kick failed. And that was that.

Credit to Manning for playing a near flawless first half, but unfortunately for the Giants, football games are 60 minutes. And, obviously, congrats to the Patriots for going 16-0. Now there are only three things left to be decided in 2007: Will Bill Belichick win Coach of the Year (Peter King says yes!) Can New England win it all? And how will Mercury Morris cope?

New England Patriots 38
New York Giants 35

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