The first time I …
Played in a Super Bowl
Howard Twilley was one of the most electrifying receivers to play
for The University of Tulsa. The NCAA pass reception champ,
as well as an All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up in
1965, Twilley went on to a stellar 11-year career with the Miami
Dolphins and played in three consecutive Super Bowls. Twilley
has lived in Tulsa for more than 30 years. as told to Greg Roach
The first Super Bowl the Miami Dolphins
ever played in was in January 1972 in New
Orleans. We played the Dallas Cowboys in
Super Bowl VI and got beat 24-3. After the
game, Coach (Don) Shula came in — he
wouldn’t let the press in — and he talked to
us. He said, “You got a choice when the
press comes in. You can either blame
each other or you can take
responsibility and say we didn’t
play well. But the one thing I
want you to remember … I
want you to remember the
sick feeling you’ve got in
your stomach right now.”
You know, we had great
ambition and great
expectations. And we flopped.
We only scored three points in
the whole game. So the sick feeling
was something that motivated our
team the next year, and that year, 1973,
was the year we went undefeated and played
in Super Bowl VII. So all that year we’d win and
we’d win and nobody would get excited
because we hadn’t accomplished the goal.
The goal was not to go undefeated. The goal
was to win the Super Bowl.
I wasn’t very physically gifted, but one of
the things I did was try to outwork people. I
talked to Bob Griese about a particular play
we could run in a certain situation, a post
corner, double-move type of route. We did a
little variation on it, and we practiced that
pattern probably a hundred times before
the big game.
So we’re in the game and I come into
the huddle. It’s third and six, we’re on the
28-yard line and I know what he’s (Griese)
going to call. It’s the play we’d practiced over
and over. And all that practice and all that
timing just worked out perfect. I knew what
they would expect, so I showed something
different, caught the pass on the 5 and took
it in for the touchdown. And what an exciting
moment that was! When you talk about a
bright, shining moment … that was it for me.
That was the first touchdown scored in the
game, and we went on to defeat Washington
14-7 and topped off the only perfect season
in the history of the NFL. ■
Former Miami Dolphin
Howard Twilley with a
commemorative
football issued in
2002, the 30th
anniversary of the
team’s perfect season.
