The Miami Dolphins wrapped up two seasons of domination of the NFL with a 24-7 of the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII on Jan. 13, 1974, at Rice Stadium in Houston.
Miami was in the Super Bowl for the third straight year. They had a 12-2 record during the regular season after going 14-0 on the way to a perfect 17-0 mark the previous season.
The Dolphins won both of their playoff games handily, beating Cincinnati 34-16 and Oakland 27-10. The Raiders had broken Miami's 18-game winning streak in Game Two of the season, by that same 27-10 score.
The Vikings opened the season with nine straight wins. After losing two of their next three, they finished with two more wins to also finish the regular season 12-2.
To reach the Super Bowl, Minnesota beat Washington 27-20 and Dallas 27-10.
It was the first time a Super Bowl was played in a stadium that was not the current home of a professional team. The Houston Oilers had played home games at Rice before moved to the Astrodome in 1968.
Early in the week of the game, Vikings coach Bud Grant blasted the NFL for inadequate training facilities for his team at Delmar District High School, a 20-minute bus ride from their hotel. "This is shabby treatment," said the usually soft-spoken coach. "This is the Super Bowl. It's not just another pickup game."
He said that the Dolphins were given much better quarters at the Oilers facility that was within walking distance of their hotel.
"The field is excellent, but the locker room is terrible,” Grant commented “There is no place to hang clothes, and most of the shower heads don't work. There are no sleds or dummies on the field for our men. I don't think our players have seen anything like this since junior high school." Asked what he planned to do about the situation, Grant replied, "This is a National Football League problem. It is Pete Rozelle's problem. They have had a year to get ready for this game, and this is what we wind up with."
Grant's remarks drew a reprimand and threat of a fine from Rozelle.
Miami’s Larry Csonka became the first running back to be named the game’s Most Valuable Player as both his 145 rushing yards and his 33 carries were Super Bowl records.
Future Hall of Famers in Super Bowl VIII:
Minnesota Vikings
Carl Eller
Jim Finks
Bud Grant
Paul Krause
Alan Page
Fran Tarkenton
Mike Tinglehoff
Ron Yary
Miami Dolphins
Don Shula
Nick Buoniconti
Larry Csonka
Bob Griese
Jim Langer
Larry Little
Paul Warfield
TV
The game was televised on CBS with Ray Scott on play-by-play. Pat Summerall and Bart Starr were analysts.
The cost of a 30-second commercial that year was $103,000. Fox is said to be asking $7 million for this year’s Super Bowl.
One of the ads in 1974 featured New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath and a young actress named Farrah Fawcett.
At the time Fawcett was not well known although she had appeared in commercials for such products as Ultra Brite toothpaste, Max Factor cosmetics, Mercury Cougar automobiles, and Beautyrest mattresses.
Fun facts
The Longhorn Band of the University of Texas performed before the game. Country singer Charley Pride sang "America the Beautiful" and the National Anthem.
The Texas band performed at halftime along with Miss Texas 1973 Judy Mallett playing the fiddle.
Having already become the first NFC Central team to even reach the NFC Championship Game, the Vikings became the first non-East Division team from either conference to play in a post-merger Super Bowl.
On television before the game, New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath said, "If Miami gets the kickoff and scores on the opening drive, the game is over." The Dolphins became the first team to score a touchdown after receiving the game's opening kickoff.
This was the first Super Bowl in which a former AFL franchise was the favorite. The 1970 AFC champion Baltimore Colts had been the favorite in Super Bowl V, but they were an original NFL franchise prior to the 1970 merger.
It was the last Super Bowl, and second-to-last game overall that used goal posts at the front of the end zone. The 1974 Pro Bowl in Kansas City the next week was the last. The goal posts were moved to the end line, in the back of the end zone, the next season.
The Dolphins, who were designated as the home team, were obligated by a now-defunct policy to wear their aqua jerseys despite having normally worn white jerseys for home games.
Miami wore two slightly different helmet decals; some had the decal that the team would adopt in 1974. Most of the linemen had the mascot dolphin leaping through the sun, while others had the 1966–1973 decal with the mascot dolphin halfway through the sun.
It was the only Super Bowl in which the game ball had stripes. Until the late 1970s, the NFL permitted striped footballs for night games, indoor games and other special situations.
Head linesman Leo Miles was the first African-American to officiate in a Super Bowl.
On that date
No. 1 TV show: All in the Family
No. 1 Movie: The Exorcist
No. 1 song: Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce
No. 1 book: Burr, Gore Vidal
Governor of Minnesota: Wendell Anderson
U.S. President: Richard Nixon
Significant news story: Seraphim was elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece
We are the champions
Here are the reigning champions in each sport.
Super Bowl: Miami Dolphins
World Series: Oakland A’s
NBA: New York Knicks
NHL: Philadelphia Flyers
College football: Notre Dame
College basketball: UCLA
Masters: Tommy Aaron
Daytona 500: Richard Petty
Indy 500: Gordon Johncock
Sources: Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, NFL, Houston Chronicle, profootballreference.com, NCAA, New York Times, Billboard.