Dolphins 'still uniquely perfect'

The 1972 Dolphins felt relief after the Giants defeated the Patriots to end New England's undefeated bid.

Happiness, relief and pride.

Those were among the emotions that washed over the 1972 Dolphins after the New York Giants upset New England in Sunday's Super Bowl and preserved the Dolphins' distinction as the only undefeated team in NFL history.

''When the game ended,'' Nick Buoniconti said Monday, ``my wife threw her arms around me, I threw my arms around her, and we hugged and she started crying. It was an emotional release.''

Bob Kuechenberg called Sunday the ''greatest day'' since the Dolphins culminated their 17-0 season. ''The same passion and juices that got us there were on the line [Sunday],'' he said. ``We are still uniquely perfect.''

Dick Anderson said when the Giants scored the winning touchdown, 'I said, `All right! By God, he did it.' I fully anticipated the Patriots going 19-0. We were fully prepared to share the record with them.''

MORE MEANING

Still, Buoniconti and Anderson agreed it is even more meaningful to have the record to themselves -- a sentiment Fox's Terry Bradshaw criticized during the pregame show when he said of the '72 Dolphins, ``You shouldn't be so selfish about it.''

That remark left several '72 alums mystified.

''For him to say we're greedy because we want to be the only ones, I don't understand it,'' Buoniconti said. ``Why are we greedy? Why are we selfish for wanting to have the record? You think Joe DiMaggio, if he were alive, would be rooting for someone to break his hitting streak? It's not normal.

``Would it be the worst thing in the world [to share a record]? No. Am I going to lose sleep over it? Absolutely not. But it's nice to have the record. The only thing that upsets me is how people diminish the importance of the record, how they think we just happened into it.''

Buoniconti also took issue with Fox's Jimmy Johnson saying the Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys and Bears were better teams than the '72 Dolphins. ''How does he know that?'' Buoniconti said. ``How does anybody know how we would have done? Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson -- that's sour grapes.''

Said Anderson: ``Bradshaw, we beat in the 1972 AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh, and he kept throwing us passes in 1973.   

He never did like us anyway. What's selfish about it? It's pride. How many people who have records want them to be broken? It's the dumbest thing in the world. We're not grumpy old men. We're happy old men.''

Buoniconti said that for about the past 15 years, he and Anderson have met for a toast after the final unbeaten team lost. They spoke by phone Sunday night, and Anderson said they ''will get together sometime this week and probably will have a drink.'' But contrary to perception, most of the team do not participate in the toast. jlb sez: I lost count of how many sportswriters used the "champagne corks popping" lie in articles written yesterday about the SuperBowl - 

CHOKE ARTISTS

Though the '72 Dolphins have expressed respect for the Patriots, Jim Kiick said by phone Sunday night that New England ''went from being the best team in the history of football to the biggest choke artists. They were trying to prove a point against us that they were the best team. But they didn't win the big one. They might have been better off losing to somebody'' in the regular season.

And Jim Mandich, a tight end on that '72 Dolphins team, said on his WQAM talk show Monday that during a pregame montage before Sunday's broadcast, the Patriots came across as ``awfully smug, like they're entitled . . . like they're overconfident, and the football gods don't smile on teams like that.''

But Mandich said he feels ''empathy'' for the Patriots ``because they carry that with them for a lifetime. That one you wake up in a cold sweat 15 years from now. You were on the brink of immortality. . . . Eighteen meaningless wins that don't amount to jack spit. They will be known as the greatest team never to win the Super Bowl.''

Said Mercury Morris: ''The [Giants] deserve to win because they did what it took to win, which is exactly what we did 17 times in 1972.'' (Morris told ESPN on Sunday night that he had a tear in his eye when the game ended.)