With just about two months until the Dolphins fan cruise leaves the port of Miami, it’s a great time to look at some more of the legends that will be attending this once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the team’s 1972 17-0 perfect season, the Dolphins and First Class Cruises have teamed up for this ultimate fan experience onboard the brand-new MSC Seascape.
There’s already a strong group of offensive players on the roster, and we explored the wide receivers and tight ends already, so let’s move to the backfield.
Throughout its history, the Dolphins have had some excellent running back groupings most famously, the “Perfect Backfield” from the 1972-73 championship seasons and then some.
Hall-of-fame fullback, Larry Csonka will be on board as well as teammate Mercury Morris. Csonka was the MVP of the Super Bowl VIII, and Morris is one of the proud spokesmen of that 17-0 perfect season and the de facto mayor of “Perfectville.”
Csonka was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 and finished his Dolphins career with 6,737 rushing yards and 53 touchdowns. He added another 820 receiving yards and another four scores for Miami.
Morris was a Pro Bowler for Miami in their years as Super Bowl participants from 1971-1973, leading the league in rushing touchdowns during the 1972 season with 12.
The Dolphins were part of perhaps one of the greatest games ever played in 1981. Running back and fan cruise participant Tony Nathan scored on the “hook-and-lateral” play against the San Diego Chargers. Nathan finished his nine NFL seasons with 3,543 yards rushing, 383 receptions for 3,592 yards and 32 touchdowns (16 rushing and 16 receiving). He also completed four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts.
Fast forwarding a bit in team lore, Terry Kirby will be joining the festivities. Kirby was a rookie in 1993 and also led the Dolphins in receptions that year with 75. Of course, the person who threw the ball will be on board as well, and we all know who that was.
Kirby finished his NFL career with 2,875 rushing yards, 3,222 receiving yards and 43 total touchdowns (including three kickoff returns and one punt return for a touchdown). He’s the only player in NFL history to catch a touchdown pass from both Dan Marino and Steve Young. Now, he can be seen on the professional cornhole circuit.
One of the more recent fan-favorite running backs in Dolphin history, the Wildcat, himself, Ronnie Brown will be at sea with the legends and fans, and it would be great to hear about that memorable 2008 season.
Brown was the second overall pick in the 2005 draft and finished his Miami career with 4,815 rushing yards, 1,491 receiving yards and 36 rushing touchdowns. Toss in a pair of receiving scores and throwing two more, Brown totaled 40 touchdowns. Who can forget his memorable touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano against the New England Patriots in 2008 in the birth of the Wildcat game?
Those are just some of the legends joining the fun from April 2 to April 9. Set sail for an adventure like no other aboard the brand-new MSC Seascape for seven nights, sailing to several Caribbean destinations, including Ocean Cay, Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Puerto Plata and the Dominican Republic.
