1973 Super Bowl VII

About Los Angeles, California: The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was the site of the first NFL-AFL in 1967 and now this year it would host the latest championship event, Super Bowl 7. Residents of Los Angeles were preparing to host thousands of visitors to their city along with millions watching at home on TV as the Miami Dolphins would play the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

Ticket Sales / Attendance: There were 90182 people in attendance at the game in and it is estimated that another 53.3 million more excited football fans tuned in from their homes or other football parties around the world while tuning into NBC. Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis would call the game and the ratings for the game on this network were 42.7.

Team Pre-Season Stats: After a crushing defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl 6 the Miami Dolphins were looking forward to the 1972-73 NFL season. In his third season as head coach, Don Shula would be counting on strong seasons from both his offence and defence if the Dolphins were to make it back to the Superbowl this season.

The Washington Redskins were hoping for more success this year in the post season after losing in the NFC divisional playoff to the 49ers the previous season. Head coach George Allen was in his 2nd season as Redskins head coach and he would need a big season from starting quarterback Billy Kilmer if they wanted to go further this year.

Team Roster:Key players on the Dolphins roster included QB Earl Morrall, DB Dick Anderson, OL Jim Langer, OL Larry Little, OL Wayne Moore, DB Jake Scott, RB Larry Csonka, and WR Paul Warfield.

The notable players for the Redskins included QB Billy Kilmer, RB Larry Brown, OL Len Hauss, WR Charles Taylor, DL Verlon Biggs, DB Pat Fischer, OL Walt Rock, and DB Rosey Taylor.

Game Highlights:The Miami defence played a spectacularly in the first half of the game and they allowed the Redskins to make it past the 50 yard line only one time and this enabled their offence to capitalize on great field position. Miami opened the scoring as QB Bob Griese threw an 18 yard pass to Howard Tilley to take a 7-0 lead. Later in the half the Miami defence stepped up again intercepting a Washington pass and then the offence marched down field and Jim Kiick scored on a 1 yard touchdown run.

These two touchdowns would be all that the Dolphins needed to clinch their first Super Bowl victory. The Redskins only touchdown came with 2:07 remaining in the contest as Mike Bass intercepted a pass and ran 49 yards for the score. This was too little too late as the Miami defence dominated the game allowing the Dolphins to win after scoring only two touchdowns with a final score of 14-7.

Game MVP: The Most Valuable Player of the 7th Super Bowl was Miami Dolphins Safety Jake Scott. Scott became only the second defensive player to win a Superbowl MVP award as he had two interceptions in the game including a crucial one in the end zone in the 4th quarter. This interception and a 55 yard return help to solidify a Dolphins victory.

Half Time Show: The halftime show was presented by Tommy Walker and entitled "Happiness is" featuring the University of Michigan Band and Woody Herman.

Commercials:The average cost for a 30 second commercial during the 7th Superbowl was $88000. The cost of TV commercials during the game were much higher than other programs as advertisers saw that this event was a great showcase of their products due to the large viewing audience.

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