The 1972 Miami Dolphins famously celebrate each season when the final NFL unbeaten falls. With a record three 8-0 teams in 2015, that champagne might be on ice longer this year.
Don Shula, the '72 Dolphins' head coach, actually went so far as to say he's rooting for his son Mike's Carolina Panthers to go 19-0.
"That would make me so proud if that happened," Shula told Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer, referring to the Panthers' slim possibility of going 19-0. "I'd love to see the Panthers do it. I'm rooting them on, that's for sure."
Panthers coordinator Mike Shula deserves credit for melding an offense without a big-time wide receiver threat into a ball-moving machine. Shula has utilized his team's strengths, running the ball more than any other squad and putting quarterback Cam Newton in position to make positive decisions and plays.
After praising his son -- who is "not hot-headed like the old man" -- Shula fawned over Newton's skill set, including dropping a H-O-F prediction.
"That's a unique guy -- 6-5, 250 pounds, and can run faster than anybody and throw better than anybody," Shula said of Newton . "He's just the complete package. They've got him working as a field general now, understanding what quarterback position is all about.
"Cam is just such a great athlete and a big, strong guy. If he stays healthy and keeps doing all the good things he's doing, if he keeps getting better like he is -- he will be a lock to be a Hall of Famer."
