Speaker 1: Practice were alphins Patrick drawing text, what a win for
Speaker 1: this Miami Dolphin team? Wow? What is up? Dolphins? And
Speaker 1: welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: official podcast network, covering your Miami Dolphins each and every day.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Winkfield,
Speaker 1: and I am here to bring you your daily dose
Speaker 1: of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, we are
Speaker 1: flashing it back to nineteen seventy two and Super Bowl seven.
Speaker 1: We recall the historic victory and the legendary Don Shulo,
Speaker 1: the coach of the Miami Dolphins for not one, but
Speaker 1: two Super Bowl championships, with Hall of Famer himself Larry Little.
Speaker 1: All of that more on this Friday, May the eighth
Speaker 1: edition of the Drivetime Podcast Dolphins and by now we
Speaker 1: all know the story the undefeated Dolphins up against Washington
Speaker 1: for an NFL championship and what would later be known
Speaker 1: as the only perfect team in NFL history, which stands
Speaker 1: to this day. And joining me to discuss Super Bowl seven,
Speaker 1: hall of Fame offensive lineman Larry Little and joining me
Speaker 1: now on the Drive Time Podcast. He spent twelve years
Speaker 1: with the Miami Dolphins. He's a two time Super Bowl champion,
Speaker 1: six time first Team All Pro and Pro Bowler, a
Speaker 1: member of the nineteen seventies All Decade Team, Dolphins Ring
Speaker 1: of Honor and Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a
Speaker 1: resident of perfect Ville. He is Larry Little. Larry, welcome in, sir,
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for having me here today. We're
Speaker 1: very happy to have you in. And of course we
Speaker 1: have some somber news to kick off this podcast because
Speaker 1: I do want to get the take of all the
Speaker 1: Dolphins alumni on Don Shula, and I just want to
Speaker 1: give you the floor here and start by asking you
Speaker 1: who was Don Shula to you? Well, actually, he was
Speaker 1: the man that probably made me to be the football
Speaker 1: player I was because when I first met him. I
Speaker 1: went to this press conference when he first came to
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, and uh, because I was here a year
Speaker 1: before he came. He came in nineteen seventeen and I
Speaker 1: was here in nineteen sixty nine, and I walked up
Speaker 1: to him and said, hi, Coachla, my name is for
Speaker 1: the press cards and my name was Larry Little. I'm
Speaker 1: your right guy. The first thing he asked me, how
Speaker 1: much do you wait? And I told him. I said,
Speaker 1: I'm two eighty five, and he did walked off from me.
Speaker 1: He said another word, when I got to be pointing
Speaker 1: reporting the letter had my weight to be your reporting,
Speaker 1: what would be to sixty five? No goodness? So you know,
Speaker 1: and when I lost that weight, that made me actually
Speaker 1: made me a better football player. And those weights definitely
Speaker 1: different the times we play with now. But I was
Speaker 1: curious to get your take, Larry, because a lot of
Speaker 1: your teammates, Sonka Fernandez, they talked about Shula kind of
Speaker 1: giving you guys a moment in the locker room after
Speaker 1: losing Super Bowl six and saying, I want you to
Speaker 1: remember this feeling, remember how this feels, and use this
Speaker 1: next year, use this as motivation. How much did that
Speaker 1: stick with you personally? What did I concur what? Manny
Speaker 1: and said, everybody's stuck with us because there was a
Speaker 1: terrible feeling that they have to losing their game to
Speaker 1: the Pallace in New Orleans, And uh, I was you
Speaker 1: know I thought about that when he said that, I said, no,
Speaker 1: I know ever want to feel his way again. After
Speaker 1: after the super Bowl game, you know, we would on
Speaker 1: to go have a great, a great year of that
Speaker 1: year and some people do say, Larry that we've had
Speaker 1: this experience before, whether it was college or the pros,
Speaker 1: or maybe losing a game before you get to the
Speaker 1: playoffs is better for some reason, Like we heard about
Speaker 1: the I think it was the two thousand eight Indianapolis
Speaker 1: Colts or something to that effect. But you guys put
Speaker 1: perfection on the line every single week. Was that more
Speaker 1: added pressure knowing that every week we have to win
Speaker 1: otherwise this this perfect records gone not? Really what happened
Speaker 1: was we never really spoke about it during the season.
Speaker 1: I think the only time we felt pressure. Oh no,
Speaker 1: I felt pressure as a team. But when we uh
Speaker 1: when I last game in the regular season and we
Speaker 1: were fourteen and old, and I see it now, we
Speaker 1: don't win these next three games, we we would not
Speaker 1: accomplish our goal of winning the super Bowl. And then
Speaker 1: but the Windows game we had to go and defeat it.
Speaker 1: And so that's what happened and we won the next
Speaker 1: few games. They were an easy game. These teams played
Speaker 1: us stuff, but we managed to win one with another.
Speaker 1: I'm the way to win you did. And the way
Speaker 1: the NFL schedule worked back then was the conference title
Speaker 1: games rotated back and forth between the home venue. So
Speaker 1: being the better record, you didn't get that home game,
Speaker 1: and so you guys had a tougher road than maybe
Speaker 1: you should have had. And I'm curious to get your
Speaker 1: take on this. Because you entered the Super Bowl Game
Speaker 1: as underdogs, was that kind of a slap in the
Speaker 1: face or maybe some extra motivation for you? Well, first
Speaker 1: of all, we had to go into Pittsburgh for the
Speaker 1: empty championship game, and you're going into Pittsburgh on New
Speaker 1: year Ease and the temperature was sixty eight degrees. So
Speaker 1: that then our favor if you normally you get the
Speaker 1: twitter and that by going into pretty the Super Bowl game,
Speaker 1: I felt we would disrespected because we were playing against
Speaker 1: a bunch of old men. At the time, we called
Speaker 1: him an over the hill game. No way we will
Speaker 1: let old men win that game on Super Bowl Sunday.
Speaker 1: I love it and you guys that year a then
Speaker 1: NFL record with two thousand, nine hundred sixty rushing yards
Speaker 1: and your work in all areas of the running game.
Speaker 1: Larry was a big, big part of that, but largely
Speaker 1: getting out in space on those sweeps and just running
Speaker 1: people over. It's it's fun to watch your highlight tape
Speaker 1: even to this day. What was it about your skill
Speaker 1: set that made you so effective on those blocks out
Speaker 1: in space like that? Well, one thing, you know, with
Speaker 1: my speed and like I said, and not a lot
Speaker 1: of those twenty pounds when coach came in and my
Speaker 1: weight stayed right around two six five and not all,
Speaker 1: I could always run. But you know, there was there's
Speaker 1: something about me that when I got there, I knew
Speaker 1: what they had a cornerback, especially when they tried safety
Speaker 1: trying to take me on that was like trying to
Speaker 1: commit suicide because you know what, I would let it
Speaker 1: deep You cornerback, get gotta take your head on and
Speaker 1: get away with it. So I took a lot of
Speaker 1: pride to what I was doing, you know. And I
Speaker 1: had to get out that fab most of the time anyway,
Speaker 1: because I was pulling for mercury and mercury with fast
Speaker 1: hell and I uh, you know, so I had to
Speaker 1: got them in front of him. And but you know
Speaker 1: a lot of people look at me that we're running sweets,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people to pay your attention to
Speaker 1: me with the one on one block and inside either
Speaker 1: and I was pretty good at that. I would like
Speaker 1: to think, well, I don't think you'd go to six
Speaker 1: Pro Bowls and six First Team All Pros without without
Speaker 1: being pretty good at that. So I think you're right
Speaker 1: on that one, Mr Little. I want to ask you,
Speaker 1: is there a specific moment in that game, the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl game that you recall as a favorite, Whether it
Speaker 1: was like a block you made, or maybe it was
Speaker 1: a play that one of your teammates made, was there
Speaker 1: a moment where you just said, yeah, this is this
Speaker 1: is when we're gonna go ahead and go win this
Speaker 1: game and go undefeated. I tell you we had to
Speaker 1: play called Pete Express, and there was my uh chilling
Speaker 1: feeling myself in exchange blocks. He would block back. I
Speaker 1: will pull around and block the linebacker, but the linebacker
Speaker 1: ran out of the picture, so I had nobody to block.
Speaker 1: The next thing, I knew it was Uncle running the ball,
Speaker 1: and because that way, I slowed up, because no way
Speaker 1: Zounc would ever catch me if I didn't slow up.
Speaker 1: And as I slowed up, he ran right back and
Speaker 1: I knew then we you know, he gained about twenty
Speaker 1: five or thirty y'all will never takeular play, And I said,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be this game gonna be easiest back, and
Speaker 1: you know it would have been the only shutout in
Speaker 1: Super Bowl history had not Garro your premium Huh maybe
Speaker 1: that bone head play leading the game? Well, I was
Speaker 1: gonna ask you did that? Did that really stick in
Speaker 1: your craw because there was a chance, like you guys
Speaker 1: had mentioned to go seventeen and oh with the seventeen
Speaker 1: zero score, had the field goal been good? Did that
Speaker 1: really bother you guys? Well, Nordon Bob's later on, but
Speaker 1: at the particular time could kill when he got to
Speaker 1: the sideline he shot. Somebody would call I wouldn't go
Speaker 1: with falls calling. Somebody called him a cow but I
Speaker 1: would never go that far, called a Garro a coward
Speaker 1: because he went too many of the game falls. Agree
Speaker 1: with that. And I wanted to close with you on
Speaker 1: this one, Larry. Was there a specific story about Don
Speaker 1: Shula that you can tell us, like what's your best
Speaker 1: Don Shula story? Well? Uh, one with when well we
Speaker 1: practiced that biscade call and they're able to fence behind
Speaker 1: our practice field and there was just rookie that was
Speaker 1: late for practice and he tried to sneak into practice
Speaker 1: by climbing over that fence. Behind the huddle, and coach
Speaker 1: caught him and totally you were cut. You go back
Speaker 1: the same way you came in instead of the food
Speaker 1: walking out the gate to go to the locks, where
Speaker 1: we climbed back over the fence to go back to
Speaker 1: way Shoes told him to go. So that that always
Speaker 1: would always stick out with me, because I mean, you cut,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be here anymore while you climb back
Speaker 1: over fence when you could have walked right out of
Speaker 1: the gate to go back to the locker room to
Speaker 1: get your equipment, turning your equipment. The one when Mercury
Speaker 1: goes Murpurt full of drama all the time, and Mark
Speaker 1: came he would hit pretty hard and he came to
Speaker 1: the sideline they were doing a preseason game, and Murk
Speaker 1: came over. He should elapse right a tron of shoes
Speaker 1: and grab his pants and she was pushing him to
Speaker 1: the ground. Get off me, Get off me, Get off me.
Speaker 1: And Burger look crying and carrot on that he always
Speaker 1: did at times. And and when he went and sat
Speaker 1: on the bench about ten minutes later, that went over
Speaker 1: and sat next tune him and said, you know what,
Speaker 1: when you will know what They grab shoes fans. He
Speaker 1: treated you like you goddamn dogs. I can listen to
Speaker 1: these all day, Larry. If you've got any more, please
Speaker 1: keep them coming. Okay, I have more, but we were there.
Speaker 1: They're they're a little more raciate. Those two. Well, we
Speaker 1: we appreciate your PC and this hair on the podcast.
Speaker 1: We appreciate your time and your stories. It's it's great
Speaker 1: to hear with me, Larry, and uh and just thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate at it. Thank you, alight back and so
Speaker 1: there he goes. Larry, little short but sweet, but man,
Speaker 1: what a football player. He was on the video component
Speaker 1: of our conference call. He had award after award and
Speaker 1: plaques hung up all over the background. I jump on
Speaker 1: the phone call with him and I asked him. I say, hey, Larry,
Speaker 1: you've you've accomplished some things in your life, huh And
Speaker 1: he said, oh, yeah, I've done a few things. Just
Speaker 1: very humble, very modest about it all. I love the
Speaker 1: story about him having to drop the way at to
Speaker 1: get to to sixty five. Honestly, as someone who is
Speaker 1: younger as a Dolphins fan, I thought he was gonna
Speaker 1: say he had to gain more weight up because nowadays
Speaker 1: two eighty five is light for the offensive line. But
Speaker 1: back then Larry. If you haven't seen him or his
Speaker 1: highlight videos, I highly highly encourage younger fans to go
Speaker 1: back and take a look at Larry Little on YouTube.
Speaker 1: There are some short clips. They're not in game footage,
Speaker 1: but there are videos of Larry Little doing his thing,
Speaker 1: and you watch him ountain space. You heard him talk
Speaker 1: about it how almost much of a challenge it was,
Speaker 1: or a suicide mission for a defensive back to try
Speaker 1: to take him on in the open field. He viewed
Speaker 1: that as a personal mission, and when you watch his
Speaker 1: highlight tape, you can definitely tell that it was his
Speaker 1: personal mission to end that player's misery on that particular
Speaker 1: play because he just bold guys over, great footwork, great
Speaker 1: out in space, just a fantastic player. I don't really
Speaker 1: have to go into the details because you know it
Speaker 1: from his background, the six All Pro honorees, the six
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl invitations, and the probe Football Hall of Fame status.
Speaker 1: I mean it speaks for itself. What a great conversation
Speaker 1: that was with a Legendlary Little. I had one comment
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask him about, but I didn't have
Speaker 1: a chance to get in there he mentioned that story
Speaker 1: about the player jump in the fence. How much does
Speaker 1: that remind you of the Major League movies when Wesley
Speaker 1: Snipes thinks he got cut and winds up running the
Speaker 1: forty yard dash in his pajamas when he jumps over
Speaker 1: the fence and makes the team. That's exactly what I
Speaker 1: thought of in that instance. But Don Shula not gonna
Speaker 1: be quite as lenient as a fictional manager in a
Speaker 1: baseball movie. So a great story, they're a great podcast,
Speaker 1: like a great detail of that nineteen seventy two Super
Speaker 1: Bowl seven victory. The Dolphins improved a seventeen and oh
Speaker 1: the only undefeated team in National Football League history to
Speaker 1: get all the way through from the opener to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl unbeaten. Larry Little, What a fun podcast this
Speaker 1: was to do? All right? We have plenty of content
Speaker 1: up on Miami Dolphins dot com, including the article that
Speaker 1: accompanies this podcast, on Your Fins Flashback. We also have
Speaker 1: the schedule released as now out. The Dolphins sixteen game
Speaker 1: slate has been put out there dates and times, go
Speaker 1: ahead and check out Miami Dolphins dot com to get
Speaker 1: your tickets. Today, you can check out the podcast We
Speaker 1: Broke down the schedule, talked about some matchups. How good
Speaker 1: was it to talk some actual football on that podcast
Speaker 1: and get into the matchups of this upcoming season. We
Speaker 1: broke it down week by week. Check out the article
Speaker 1: on Miami Dolphins dot com. Check out that edition of
Speaker 1: the Drivetime podcast. But as for this edition of the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast, that is gonna be my time you all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review, give me a
Speaker 1: follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL for all the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: At Miami Dolphins, we have a new episode of the
Speaker 1: fish Tank podcast, Seth and Jews talking about the legendary
Speaker 1: coach Don Shula. The Audible with Kim and Bo Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot Com. Until next time finds up