Miami Dolphins Cheating History

31
MIA
TL;DR:

• the DOLPHINS are AVERAGE NFL cheaters!

• they have a CheatScore of 31?

• they've executed 10 real cheats! ?

• share page: http://YourTeamCheats.com/MIA?

 

All Miami Dolphins Cheats:

Tampergate (1970: Shula) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: The Dolphins committed three counts of tampering in order to hire "Double-Dealing" Don Shula* as their coach in 1970. DD Don* was still the coach of the Baltimore Colts at the end of the 1969 season, when then-Miami owner Joe Robbie approached him and signed Shula* to a contract. You can't do that. That's cheating. * Cheater

VICTIM: Indianapolis Colts (The Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984)

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: As punishment for this cheating incident, the Baltimore Colts were awarded the Dolphin's 1971 first round draft pick. As well, the Dolphins 1972 Perfect Season* was permanently tainted and unofficially appended with an asterisks to indicate that the team cheated.

Fun fact about the Dolphins' Perfect Season*: in 1972 the Dolphins drew what most experts consider one of the NFL's softest schedules ever. Their opponents had a winning percentage of just .357 (!) and they faced only 2 teams who ended the season over .500 while feasting on 9 teams who ended under .500. * Cheated

Shula*, of course, is remembered as one of the game's most accomplished coaches. He holds numerous coaching records, including:

  • Most losses by a head coach in the Super Bowl: 4, tied with Bud Grant (MIN), Marv Levy (BUF) and Dan Reeves (DEN).
  • Longest amount of time to be shutout in a Super Bowl: his team didn't score until there was only 3:19 left in Super Bowl III.
  • Fewest points scored in a Super Bowl by any team: his team managed only one field goal in Super Bowl VI.
  • Fewest points scored in the second half of a Super Bowl: his team put up 0 second half points an astonishing 4 times (Super Bowls VI, VII, XVII, and XIX).
* Cheater

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AWARDS EARNED: Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 6.0

PEDSgate (5x since 1990) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are used by players to illegally improve athletic performance above what legal training and preparation can do.

Players who illegally improve their performance unfairly penalize players who follow the rules. They not only put those players at risk for physical injury, but they also affect their economic livelihood by impacting their perceived value and their ability to secure appropriately-valued playing contracts.

SEVERITY = 0.5 video cameras per punished incident. Includes all documented infractions from 1960 to present with this Wikipedia page as the primary source.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Each player was suspended for four games for violating the league's PEDs policy except Sochia, who was suspended for five games.

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AWARDS EARNED: A Decade of Deceit!Repeat The Cheat!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 5.0

Painkillergate (1970-1995) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Double-Dealing Don Shula* was named in a 2015 player lawsuit as one of the NFL head coaches who engaged in a "decades-long conspiracy to keep them [the players] on the field without regard for their long-term health."

The lawsuit specifically names Shula* as one of a number of coaches who warned that players "would be cut from their teams unless they took painkillers and returned to the field."

VICTIM: Miami Dolphins (Specifically, his own players)

PUNISHED? PENDING...

PUNISHMENT: I guess Dirty Don Shula* wasn't really a players-coach.

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AWARDS EARNED: A Decade of Deceit!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Formationgate (1986) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: After a preseason game in 1986, Philadelphia Eagle head coach Buddy Ryan accused Miami Dolphins head coach DD Don Shula* of using illegal tactics to gain an advantage. was accused of putting 15 men in the huddle, then sending some back to the sidelines at the last minute to confuse the opponents.

Said Ryan, "He was just trying to make us look bad. He was trying to fool us. I don't mind him beating me, but damn, let's do it within the rules. Everybody's got to play by the same rules."

According to Ryan, "the ploy had been legislated out of the game more than a decade ago, but no action was taken to prevent Shula* from using it. The Eagles coach estimated that Miami had employed the tactic about 18 times in the course of the contest." He went on to say that the rule has been in there since 1975

VICTIM: Philadelphia Eagles

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: DD Don Shula* strikes again. The excuse Shula* tried to peddle was that "everybody does it" and that "he had been calling plays that way for years." Whooo-whooo! Hop aboard the Cheat Train, Shula* there's a seat way up front for you.

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AWARDS EARNED: Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

Tampergate (multiple) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: In 2005, the Miami Dolphins and Bill Parcells had an agreement in place with guard Justin Smiley only 17 minutes after the start of free agency.

A decades earlier in 1994, the Dolphins -- under then coach Double-Dealing Don Shula* -- reportedly pulled another fast one when free agent safety Gene Atkins just happened to be staying at a hotel a few blocks from the Dolphins training facility the night before free agency began.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

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AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!Repeat The Cheat!A Decade of Deceit!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0

Tapegate (2006) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Multiple Dolphins players told the Palm Beach (FL) Post that the team purchased tapes of the New England offense that provided audio of quarterback Tom Brady making audible and line-blocking calls. These players boasted that the tape helped them win 21-0 in a December meeting.

Although the league, in this case, ruled that the Dolphins did nothing wrong, many Miami players stated that the tapes "were critical in preparing for the game and provided the Dolphins inside information about New England's offensive audible system."

"I've never seen [Brady] so flustered," middle linebacker Zach Thomas said.

Said ESPN report John Clayton: "Teams are always trying to steal signs and signals off other teams. That's just football."

VICTIM: New England Patriots

PUNISHED? No

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AWARDS EARNED: Avoid Media Scrutiny!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0

Mudgate (1983) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Before the 1983 AFC Championship game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets, Miami coach Don Shula* refused to cover the field during a monsoon in order to create a muddy field with the hopes of slowing down the Jets' high powered offense. The Dolphins won 14-0 and the infamous game was nicknamed the "Mud Bowl".

Said Jets coach Walt Michaels: "The only thing I know is the rules. I can't understand it. The constitution of the National Football League requires each team to have a tarpaulin available to protect a field from rain or snow."

VICTIM: New York Jets

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: Double Dealing Don Shula* strikes again! Good thing Miami lost the 1983 Super Bowl to the Washington Redskins as this might be the defining asterisk of that game.

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AWARDS EARNED: Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0

Whispergate (2011) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: On March 22, 2011 Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that the Miami Dolphins were one of five team who had be fined for "having illegale contact with players during a designated dead period."

The Dolphins were believed to have been one of those five teams because of contact their offensive coordinator Brian Daboll had with quarterback Chad Henne. Because of the 2011 lockout, team officials were prevented from having any contact with members of the then decertified NFLPA.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Omar seems to report that it is more probable than not that the Dolphins were one of those fined teams.

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0

Spygate (80s) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Said former Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson on September 28, 2007: “I did it [recorded opponent signals] with video and so did a lot of other teams in the league, just to make sure that you could study it and take your time, because you’re going to play the other team the second time around. But a lot of coaches did it, this was commonplace.”

And this kind stuff is nothing new. Way back in 1967, Lee Grosscup wrote an item for Sport magazine that delved into the issue of spying in football.

The issue with what the Patriots did against the Jets is that the Pats continued to do something that the league had specifically told teams not to do: film from the sidelines instead of from a different approved location in the stadium.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: Filming your opponent's signals is not illegal. You get that now, right?

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AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

Tampergate (2015: Suh) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Miami Dolphins

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: The NFL sent all 32 teams a letter on March 9, 2015 voicing the league's displeasure with the handling of the three-day tampering period. Now the Miami Dolphins are worried that they will be the target of league investigations for their handling of the pursuit of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

The "legal tampering period," which was instituted in 2013, allows teams to negotiate with impending free agents three days before they are set to hit the open market; however, no contract terms are to be reached. That rule has seemingly been broken by multiple teams prior to the 2015 NFL free agency period, including the Dolphins, who reportedly agreed to a six-year, $114 million deal with Suh on Sunday.

According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins are now in the league's crosshairs for breaking the rules of the tampering period and team officials are "nervous" about a potential investigation.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: On May 12, 2015 an NFL spokesman said: "The: "The league has determined the Dolphins did not violate its tampering rules in their successful pursuit of free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh."

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AWARDS EARNED: Goalie for the Dart Team!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

 

Leaguewide Cheats:

Tampergate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Tampering with free agents is rampant, it's laughable and it is against the rules (PDF). It's so bad across every team in the league that the NFL had to create a three-day legal tampering period. However, tampering still regularly occurs long before that annual three-day window opens. On March 9, 2015 the league once again felt compelled to warn all 32 teams about not tampering.

Why is tampering considered a problem? Because tampering with players still under contract makes it difficult for clubs to re-sign their own talent. It also puts those few teams that actually follow NFL guidelines at a distinct disadvantage. In many cases, contract agreements are in place days before any negotiations are allowed to begin.

This isn't fair, it isn't legal, and it is blatant cheating by the teams who engage in the practice.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but...

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell is doing all he can to curtail and punish the "commonplace" practice, although it admits that there is so much tampering that it is hard to police it all.

The CheatPoints earned for this leaguewide cheat is for all of this team's tampering incidents that have gone undiscovered or unproven. If specific instances are discovered, they are punished on top of this leaguewide penalty.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Headsetgate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: it's a common complaint around the NFL. In late, close games, the helmet communicators of visiting teams suddenly "malfunction" and stop working. It has been accepted as standard practice in the league. Are you on the road and the game is close? Then you are going to have problems with your headset.

In recent years, the Patriots have accused the Colts of doing it and the Jaguars have made the same charge of the Patriots. The Redskins accused the Buccaneers of disabling their headsets, and Tampa Bay accused Dallas. The Giants openly bragged about doing it way back in 1956. The charges go on and on and on.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Spygate (until 2006) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Stealing your opponent's signals has always been common and never been illegal.

Said former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, "We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everyone attempted to do that." Admitted former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson: "When I came into the NFL, back in 1989, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, 'Here's what we do, we videotape the opposing team's signals and then we sync it up with the game film.' So I did it." Bragged, former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan: "Our guy keeps a pair of binoculars on their signal-callers every game, with any luck, we have their defensive signals figured out by halftime. Sometimes, by the end of the first quarter."

NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell confirmed this himself in 2008, saying that the issue was not stealing signals, that is allowed "and it is done quite widely." The issue is where and how you record them. If you chose to videotape them, then (after 2006) you have to do that from a league approved location. If you hire lip readers, they can do it from your coaches lap, if you want.

After 2006, examples of allowed videotaping locations are: the luxury boxes, media booths and other enclosed spaces. Expressly prohibited locations are the sidelines, the field, locker rooms, the coaches booth or any other place accessible to team coaches and staff. The point of the rule is to not allow the footage to be useful in the current game.

Prior to the September 6, 2006 memo and, 2007 follow up, from NFL head of football operations Ray Anderson, there was no league restriction on filming location, which is the reason the memo was sent.

Many NFL head coaches have downplayed the significance of the practice, saying that attempting to decipher opponent's signals was a long standing practice and entirely common throughout the league.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell suggested that the responsibility was on teams to conceal their messages, not on the ones trying to steal them. During his news conference before the 2007 Super Bowl he said that any coach who did not expect signals to be stolen was "stupid."

Prior to 2006, every NFL team is assumed to have done it, but none of them broke a rule. You can't punish something that is not prohibited. Filming from the sidelines was not prohibited until 2006 and filming your opponent's signals from approved locations has never been prohibited, even today.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

Scrapsgate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Sign an opponent's recently-cut player to your practice squad to get intel on their plays, signals and tactics. This is not illegal and is a leaguewide practice.

Said one player, who chose to remain anonymous as he was still in the league as of 2015, "If teams have an opening at a certain position, they might not be looking for perhaps the best player to fill it on their practice squad. Instead, they might go for someone who has access to the opposing team’s playbook."

“Let’s say we’re playing the Jaguars in seven days and you want to know more about their playbook. From time to time teams will sign people off of practice squads. You don’t have to put them on active roster so if there’s a need for more depth at linebacker and you’re playing Jacksonville, there would be more of a chance to sign a linebacker off the team you’re about to play’s practice squad and hoping that the person you’re about to sign will divulge information about the playbook.”

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: Not illegal.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

awardEARNED: "A Decade of Deceit!"

CRITERIA: Repeat the same cheat at least ten years later!
EARNED FOR:PEDSgate (5x since 1990)  Tampergate (multiple)  Painkillergate (1970-1995) 

awardEARNED: "Avoid Media Scrutiny!"

CRITERIA: Successfully attract less than 5% of the typical Patriots "cheating" scandal coverage!
EARNED FOR:Tapegate (2006) 

awardEARNED: "Everyone Was Doing It!"

CRITERIA: Successfully "cheat" in a way that many other teams have (bonus points for not getting caught)!
EARNED FOR:Spygate (until 2006)  Tampergate (ongoing)  Spygate (80s)  Tampergate (multiple)  Scrapsgate (ongoing) 

awardEARNED: "Goalie for the Dart Team!"

CRITERIA: Execute a cheat that requires significant anti-intellect to attempt, let alone thinking you'll get away with it!
EARNED FOR:Tampergate (2015: Suh) 

awardEARNED: "Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!"

CRITERIA: Call out another team for cheating while actively cheating yourself (bonus points for calling out another team's cheating while executing the same cheat yourself)!
EARNED FOR:Tampergate (1970: Shula)  Mudgate (1983)  Formationgate (1986) 

awardEARNED: "Repeat The Cheat!"

CRITERIA: Successfully repeat the same cheat multiple times!
EARNED FOR:PEDSgate (5x since 1990)  Tampergate (multiple) 

Is there a Miami Dolphins cheating scandal that I'm missing? Do I have a fact wrong? A broken link? Email me with your comment and supporting link and I'll fix or add it.

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