Undefeated

June 11, 2012
As the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Miami Dolphins’ perfect season gear up this year, Freeman, a national NFL writer for CBSSports.com, has assembled a new book hailing Coach Don Shula’s ragtag squad’s improbable rise after a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss the previous year. A letter from then President Nixon did nothing to soothe the defeat, but the coach gradually transformed his team from losers to winners, taking the team from the bottom to glory. Whether it’s inside the testy locker room or the brutal action of game day, Freeman ticks off the challenges to perfection: ace quarterback Bob Griese breaking a leg in the fifth game; shifty running back Mercury Morris’s tirades to the media about the coach; the conflicts inside the team, and the mental chess game between Shula and various coaches around the league to get a win. The Dolphins didn’t possess elite players, but contained a colorful crew: Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Marv Fleming, and Manny Fernandez. In this homage to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Freeman’s classic book will enthrall readers with the extraordinary story of a team that went through 14 regular season games and two playoff games to capture Super Bowl VII. Agent: John Monteleone.

September 1, 2012
The 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated through the regular season and went on to win the Super Bowl. No team has done it since. Making effective use of carefully detailed research and revealing interviews, veteran sportswriter Freeman tracks the Dolphins' career year. Of course, any great team starts with the coach, and Hall-of-Famer Don Shula led the 1972 Dolphins. Freeman delves deeply into Shula's modest upbringing and connects that frugal childhood to his obsession with detail and discipline, which made him a great coach. Freeman also makes the case that the Dolphins' high football-IQ roster was the perfect match for Shula's complicated, innovative schemes. Quarterback Bob Griese was a fine athlete but also a cerebral game manager who rarely made a mental error. Middle-linebacker Nick Buoniconti played the same role on the other side of the ball. In addition to the profiles of key players and game accounts, Freeman includes a history of the franchise before 1972 and details the reasons the team was unable to sustain its success. A valuable slice of NFL history and a very enjoyable reading experience for gridiron fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

Starred review from August 1, 2012

Keyed to the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Dolphins, this book recalls the only NFL team to go through an entire season without losing. Despite that unique accomplishment, this exceedingly smart, disciplined and dedicated team is generally underappreciated in history because of its lack of superstars and its weak schedule. In detailing the assembly and accomplishments of the Dolphins, Freeman (national columnist, CBSsports.com) relies heavily on the coach, Don Shula, and exalts his legacy above all. All key players are profiled and prevailing issues such as race relations are explored, but there is not much game action in the book. VERDICT Timed well and professionally written, this work will be in demand as the definitive book on a signature team.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2012
A conventional, sometimes fawning account of a remarkable NFL season. There's not much hard hitting here, other than what occurs on the gridiron. Freeman (Bowden: How Bobby Bowden Forged a Football Dynasty, 2009, etc.) is clearly in awe of the undefeated 1972 Dolphins and their Hall-of-Fame coach, Don Shula. He even engages in a pointless were-they-the-best-ever argument near the end. The cliches and hyperbole fly downfield frequently--far more often than passes from the throwing arm of Dolphins' quarterback Bob Griese, the disciplined, conservative signal-caller who came off the bench at halftime in the 1972 AFC Championship Game. Griese threw only a handful of passes that year's Super Bowl, relying instead on his "No Name" defense and on the punishing running of Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick and the speed and agility of Mercury Morris, who subsequently went to jail on drug charges. Scattered throughout are sketches of other key Dolphins; the history of the Dolphins and its Scroogean owner, Joe Robbie; and some accounts of other games, other players and opponents. Some will not enjoy their portraits. Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer, for example, was consistent, says the author, only in his beer drinking. Freeman reserves his highest praise for the Dolphins and their coaches. Other, less Einsteinian coaches, "filled their special teams with psychos and dickheads." Oddly, the author's account of the 1972 Super Bowl is sketchy and scattered, not the climactic clash that readers will expect. Freeman also includes some occasional passages about race issues and drug wars in Miami. Will appeal mostly to fans of Shula and the Dolphins.

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