**Mr. Joe Robbie, who founded the Miami Dolphins on August 19, 1965, was born in Sisseton, South Dakota. He attended college at Northern State and the University of South Dakota. Members of his large family were heavily involved in various operations of the team. Shortly after Joe passed away in 1990, the Robbie family sold all stock in the organization and is no longer affiliated with the team.
**The Joe Robbie Award, named after former Dolphin owner Joe Robbie, is still awarded every year to the most valuable player of each South Dakota high school football championship game played at the DakotaDome. One Milbank Bulldog has won the award; it came in the fourth-ever Bulldog appearance in the championship game.
**The Dolphins returned the opening kickoff in the opening game of their opening season for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders. Local favorite Joe Auer, who attended high school in Miami, received the kickoff, broke to his left, and ran 95 yards almost untouched into the end zone! Strangely, Auer ended up scoring a touchdown on the very last play of that inaugural season. That touchdown gave the Fins a win over Denver.
**In just their seventh season of existence, the Miami Dolphins posted the only undefeated, untied record in professional football history. They went 17 and 0, including the Super Bowl win over the favored Washington Redskins, 14-7. Other teams have come close since but haven't been able to pull a repeat of the Dolphins' perfect season.
**In the Super Bowl of the undefeated season, the Dolphins led 14-0. They were attempting a field goal with two minutes (2:07) remaining in the game. The field goal would have made the score 17-0. Dolphin players on the sideline were thinking about ending the season 17-0 with a 17-0 victory. However, Garo Yepremian, the Dolphins' kicker, ended up throwing a "pass" that the Redskins returned for a touchdown. The Dolphins won, 14-7.
**Jim Langer, who played center in 1972, snapped every ball in the undefeated season. He attended South Dakota State and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame...and South Dakota State Hall of Fame.
**Jim Langer was here in Milbank for the dedication of our new football field. That night, in the first game on the new field (A.B. Campbell Stadium), the Milbank Bulldogs defeated the Redfield Pheasants, 42-0. What was the score of the first regular season game in Miami's new stadium (Joe Robbie Stadium) in 1987? Dolphins 42, Chiefs 0.
** I know every score of every Dolphin game since 1980. I've won some good money for this "useless" knowledge.
** Josh Heupel (QB) was drafted by the Dolphins in 2001 in the sixth round. He was the 177th selection of the draft. He grew up in Aberdeen, SD, and was taught by Mrs. Mary Hagen in first grade at Roncalli Elementary. Mrs. Hagen told me that Josh loved to play football at recess everyday of the school year. Unfortunately, Josh never made the team.
** There are 13 total letters in the words "Miami Dolphins." I was born on the 13th. 'Nuf said.
** Speaking of my birth, in the three preceding weeks before I was born, the Dolphins lost, lost, and lost. But, two days after my birth it was Sunday, and the Dolphins would win that day (21-10 over the New Orleans Saints) and continued winning their next six games (which were the final six games of the season). This winning streak enabled the Dolphins to reach the playoffs for the first time in team history.
**One more fact in regard to my birthday: I have attended a Dolphins game only once on my birthday and, yes, the Dolphins won by 13 points.
** The first time I saw the Dolphins play in Miami, the Dolphins won by 13. The first time SuperNephew Alex saw the Dolphins play in Miami, the Dolphins won by, yes, 13.
**Speaking of numbers, my number is 84...and I take great, great pride in that. And, just so you know, the very first regular season game that the Dolphins ever played was in the Orange Bowl, and it was 84 degrees! One of my favorite games ever (11-10-85 versus the NY Jets) also saw a temp of 84 at kickoff! Oh, and my classroom room number is 84. I like it!
