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Flipper was a mascot for the Miami Dolphins from 1966 to 1968. She was situated in a fish tank in the open (east) end of the Orange Bowl, and was trained to jump in the tank when a touchdown or field goal was scored. [1] [2]
From 1964 to 1967 NBC aired a popular series starring a dolphin named "Flipper," which was set in southeast Florida and the Bahamas. [3] [4] The Dolphins used in the show lived at the Seaquarium on Key Biscayne. There were four different dolphins who played Flipper named Susie, Kathy, Patty, and Squirt. [5]
In 1966, The Miami Dolphins became an expansion franchise in the American Football League. Given the location, team name, and popularity of the TV show, it was decided that the new team mascot would be named "Flipper", and they would use a live Dolphin from the show as the team mascot. [6]
Team owner Joe Robbie struck a deal with both the City of Miami and the Miami Seaquarium to have one of the dolphins perform at home games. This required transporting the aquatic mammal to and from the game each Sunday. It was decided that Patty would be the dolphin used because she was comfortable travelling while the others were not. [7]
Following the 1968 season, "Flipper" was no longer used as the team mascot. Owner Joe Robbie decided to cut ties with the mascot because both the City of Miami and the Seaquarium decided they would not continue to pay for tank repairs and transportation costs. [8]
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Hard Rock Stadium, located in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. The team is currently owned by Stephen M. Ross. The Dolphins are the oldest professional sports team in Florida. Of the four AFC East teams, the Dolphins are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). The Dolphins were also one of the first professional football teams in the southeast, along with the Atlanta Falcons.
Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Redskins defeated the Dolphins 27–17 to win their first Super Bowl championship. The game was played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I college football team.
Robert Allen Griese is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He earned All-American honors playing college football with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the Dolphins of the AFL. Widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970s, Griese led the Dolphins to a then record three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII, the first of which capped off Miami's undefeated and untied 1972 season, the only such season in NFL history. Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. He later worked as a television commentator, calling NFL games for NBC Sports and college football for ESPN and ABC Sports. Griese is one of three quarterbacks from Purdue to win the Super Bowl.
The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Downtown Miami. The Miami Orange Bowl was considered a landmark and served as the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team from 1937 through 2007 and for the Miami Dolphins for the Dolphins' first 21 seasons until Joe Robbie Stadium opened in nearby Miami Gardens in 1987. The stadium also was the temporary home of the FIU Golden Panthers while its on-campus venue, now known as Riccardo Silva Stadium, underwent expansion during the 2007 season.
Joseph Robbie was an American attorney, politician, and the principal founder of the Miami Dolphins.
Flipper is an American television program broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the pet of Porter Ricks, chief warden at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of children's merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first run.
Robert Glenn Baumhower is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Alabama under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant from 1973 to 1976 and professional football for the Miami under coach Don Shula. He later became a restauranteur.
Tokitae, also known by her stage name Lolita, is a female captive orca from the L pod of Southern resident orcas. She has been in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium in Florida since September 24, 1970. As of 2022, Lolita is the second oldest orca in captivity behind Corky at SeaWorld San Diego.
The Miami Seaquarium is a 38-acre (15 ha) oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida located near downtown Miami.
Flipper's New Adventure is a 1964 American feature film released on June 24, 1964 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, written by Art Arthur, and directed by Leon Benson. It was a sequel to the 1963 film, Flipper and was based on characters created by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden.
Otis James McDuffie is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for Penn State University, and earned All-American honors. A first-round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, he played professionally for the NFL's Miami Dolphins.
The Epic in Miami was the National Football League AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins that took place on January 2, 1982 in the Miami Orange Bowl. The game, won by the Chargers in overtime, 41–38, is one of the most famous in National Football League lore because of the enormity of scoring, the conditions on the field, the performances of players on both teams, and the numerous records that were set.
The Dolphin Research Center (DRC) is a dolphinarium on Grassy Key, Florida. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) series of saltwater lagoons is home to several dolphins and California sea lions.
The Nova Southeastern Sharks are the athletic teams that represent Nova Southeastern University, located in Davie, Florida, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) since the 2002–03 academic year. The Sharks previously competed in the Florida Sun Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1990–91 to 2001–02.
The 1987 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 22nd as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's output of 8–8, losing one fewer game. Despite the improvement the team failed to reach the playoffs. This was also the first season the Dolphins played their home games at Joe Robbie Stadium. Their first game at Joe Robbie Stadium involved replacement players, as 25,867 fans saw the Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Richard "Ric" O'Barry is an American animal rights activist and former animal trainer who was first recognized in the 1960s for capturing and training the five dolphins that were used in the TV series Flipper. O'Barry transitioned from training dolphins to instead advocating against industries that keep dolphins in captivity, after one of the Flipper dolphins died. In 1996, a dolphin was seized from the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary, a corporation O'Barry worked for, for violating the Animal Welfare Act of 1966. In 1999, O'Barry was fined for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act as the result of illegally releasing two dolphins that were not able to survive in the wild. The dolphins sustained life-threatening injuries.
The Tampa Spartans football program was an intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tampa (UT) located in Tampa, Florida, that began play in 1933. The program competed against other small college programs in the forerunner of today's NCAA Division II for almost forty years before moving to the top level of NCAA Division I as an independent in 1971. Successfully competing against top college programs as a much smaller school put an enormous strain on the university's finances, and the school decided to discontinue football after the 1974 season.
The Buccaneers–Dolphins rivalry is between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. It is an in-state, interconference matchup between the two oldest NFL teams in the state of Florida. It has been active in most years since the Buccaneers joined the league as an expansion team in 1976. The rivalry is mostly a mainstay of the preseason, as the teams have been in different conferences since 1977 and as such only play each other during the regular season once every four years.
The Dolphins–Patriots rivalry is an American football rivalry between the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. The Dolphins lead the all-time series 60–55. Because both teams are members of the American Football Conference (AFC) East division, the two teams have been scheduled to play twice every regular season since 1967.
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