1980 Miami Dolphins season

The 1980 Miami Dolphins season was the 15th year of existence for the Miami Dolphins franchise. Quarterback Bob Griese retired after the season, following a 14-year career with the Dolphins. However, in Griese's final season the Dolphins would only play mediocre football finishing in third place with an 8-8 record.

1980 Miami Dolphins season
Head coachDon Shula
Home fieldOrange Bowl
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

Offseason

NFL draft
Main article: 1980 NFL draft
1980 Miami Dolphins draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 21 Don McNeal  Cornerback Alabama
2 48 Dwight Stephenson * †  Center Alabama
3 75 Bill Barnett  Defensive end Nebraska
4 100 Elmer Bailey  Wide receiver Minnesota
6 158 Eugene Byrd  Wide receiver Michigan State
7 185 Joe Rose  Tight end California
8 212 Jeff Allen  Defensive back UC Davis
8 214 David Woodley  Quarterback LSU
9 239 Mark Goodspeed  Offensive tackle Nebraska
10 271 Doug Lantz  Center Miami (OH)
10 272 Ben Long  Linebacker South Dakota
11 279 Phil Driscoll  Defensive end Minnesota State
12 325 Chuck Stone  Guard North Carolina State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff
1980 Miami Dolphins staff
Front office
  • President – Joe Robbie
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – Mike Robbie
  • Vice President – Don Shula
  • Director of Player Personnel – Chuck Connor

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Don Shula

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Steve Crosby, Carl Taseff
  • Punting – Tom Keane

Roster
1980 Miami Dolphins final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad

  • Currently vacant


Rookies in italics
 45 active, 0 inactive, 0 practice squad

Regular season

The 1980 NFL season would see the Dolphins drop to an 8–8 record, from their AFC East division winning 10–6 showing the previous year.

Quarterback Bob Griese, who struggled with leg problems during 1979, lost the starting job to longtime backup Don Strock, but he did poorly in two games, leading the Dolphins to return to Griese for Week 3. In Week 5, however, Griese suffered a career-ending shoulder injury against the Baltimore Colts and was succeeded by David Woodley, a rookie fresh from LSU.

Their week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills was the Dolphins' first loss to that team since 1969, snapping a 20 game winning streak for Miami in the Bills-Dolphins rivalry. After the win, Bills fans rushed the field and tore down the goalposts. This was also Don Shulas first loss to Buffalo in 21 career games against them.

The final game of the season was played against the New York Jets on December 20. NBC tried a novel experiment by broadcasting the game with no commentators, and with none of the players or staff wearing microphones. The effect was to give television viewers the feel of actually being in the stadium. To date, this was the only NFL game ever aired on TV without commentaries. The Jets won by a score of 24–17, though both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention.

It was during the ABC broadcast of the Monday Night Football game on December 8, 1980, against the Patriots that Howard Cosell announced that John Lennon had been shot and killed.

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance Notes
1 September 7, 1980 at Buffalo Bills L 17–7
79,598
 Dolphins first loss to Bills since 1969, snapping a 20 game winning streak over Buffalo.
2 September 14, 1980 Cincinnati Bengals W 17–16
38,322
3 September 21, 1980 at Atlanta Falcons W 20–17
55,470
4 September 28, 1980 New Orleans Saints W 21–16
40,946
5 October 5, 1980 Baltimore Colts L 30–17
50,631
 Griese's final game
6 October 12, 1980 at New England Patriots L 34–0
60,377
7 October 19, 1980 Buffalo Bills W 17–14
41,636
8 October 27, 1980 at New York Jets L 17–14
53,046
9 November 2, 1980 at Oakland Raiders L 16–10
46,378
10 November 9, 1980 at Los Angeles Rams W 35–14
62,198
11 November 16, 1980 San Francisco 49ers W 17–13
45,135
12 November 20, 1980 San Diego Chargers L 27–24
63,013
13 November 30, 1980 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 23–10
51,384
14 December 8, 1980 New England Patriots W 16–13
63,292
 Howard Cosell announces John Lennon's death during this game
15 December 14, 1980 at Baltimore Colts W 24–14
30,564
16 December 20, 1980 New York Jets L 24–17
41,854
 Game is televised without commentators as an experiment

Week 14: vs. New England Patriots
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
1 234OTTotal
Patriots 0 6070 13
• Dolphins 0 0673 16

Standings
AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Buffalo Bills(3) 11 5 0 .688 4–4 8–4 320 260 W1
New England Patriots 10 6 0 .625 6–2 9–3 441 325 W2
Miami Dolphins 8 8 0 .500 3–5 4–8 266 305 L1
Baltimore Colts 7 9 0 .438 5–3 6–8 355 387 L3
New York Jets 4 12 0 .250 2–6 3–9 302 395 W1

References
  1. "1980 Miami Dolphins draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
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