美国国家公共电台 NPR Don Shula, Legendary Miami Dolphins Coach, Has Died At 90

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, a legend of the NFL, has died at the age of 90. In his 33 seasons as a head coach, first with the Baltimore Colts and then later with the Dolphins, Shula set a long list of NFL records. He took his teams to six Super Bowls, and he led the Dolphins to the only perfect NFL season in history. But Don Shula's greatest achievement is this - he had 347 career wins. As NPR's Greg Allen reports, that's more than any other coach in NFL history.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE¹: Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino played under Shula for 13 years. In an interview with the Miami Herald², Marino said Shula was simply a great coach and a great man.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAN MARINO: What he expected of himself, you know, how competitive he was, and it just went throughout the whole team. He made everybody kind of come to his level.

ALLEN: Shula led Miami for 26 years and became an institution. Today, there is an expressway in Miami named for him and his statue stands outside the stadium where the Dolphins play. When he announced his retirement³ after the '95 season, it was broadcast live throughout South Florida.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DON SHULA: I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that it's going to be gut-wrenching when that ball is kicked off in September because this is going to be the first time in 43 years that I haven't been on the sideline in the National Football League.

ALLEN: Before he was a coach, Don Shula was a player, a defensive⁴ back mostly with the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts. When he was hired as Baltimore's head coach in 1963, Shula was just 33 - at that time, the NFL's youngest head coach ever. He led the Colts to seven winning seasons and the Super Bowl. In 1970, Shula took the head coaching job with the Dolphins, an expansion franchise⁵ with an abysmal⁶ record. In his first year, Miami went to the playoffs. Shula remained the Dolphins head coach for the next 2 1/2 decades, along the way becoming the winningest coach in NFL history. It's an achievement Miami Herald sports columnist⁷ Greg Cote believes may never be repeated.

GREG COTE: Shula's record, I think, is unassailable. I think it's up there with Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak⁸ and some of the other sports records that just will not fall.

ALLEN: Shula's first trip to the Super Bowl in 1969 was with the Colts, an NFL powerhouse led by Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas. The Colts were the decided⁹ favorites over American Football League upstarts the New York Jets, led by flamboyant¹⁰ quarterback Joe Namath. Namath brashly guaranteed victory and then shocked the Colts and the nation by making good on his promise.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS ANNOUNCER: The New York Jets are the world champions. They have upset the Baltimore Colts and beat them handily here today.

COTE: Don Shula was on the losing end of that guarantee and, yeah, that hurt him a lot.

ALLEN: Cote says that loss created some bitterness between Shula and Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom and was a factor in Shula's decision to take the Dolphins' offer in 1970 and move to Miami. In Miami, Shula inherited a team with a lot of talent, including future Hall of Famers quarterback Bob Griese and running back Larry Csonka. In his second year, Miami went to the Super Bowl, losing to the Dallas Cowboys. In 1997 at his induction¹² into the Pro¹¹ Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Shula said he learned something important from that loss.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SHULA: When you're there, it's not good enough to be there. When you're there, you better walk away with that ring because they're only thinking about one team when that game's over. Before the game, they're talking about two football teams. When the game's over, there is only one winner.

ALLEN: The next year, 1972, Shula and the Dolphins were undefeated all season long and found themselves back in the Super Bowl. Here's NBC's Curt¹³ Gowdy.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CURT GOWDY: And now we watch as the clock tick away as Shula has won his Super Bowl. The Miami Dolphins have defeated the Washington Redskins.

ALLEN: It was the perfect season, the only time in NFL history a team has gone unbeaten and won the Super Bowl. Other teams have come close. The New England Patriots¹⁴ almost did it in the 2007 season, as did the 1985 Chicago Bears. In 2007, Shula said it was one of the records he was most proud of.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SHULA: You know, when you realize just how tough an accomplishment¹⁵ it was, it makes it that much more meaningful because teams haven't been able to do it. You know, teams have made a run at it. The Colts were 13 and zero one year and San Diego beat them. And the Bears were undefeated in '85. I happen to remember that game. That was the best first half of football I've ever been around.

ALLEN: In that game, Shula and the Dolphins stopped the Bears and preserved the franchise record.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARACK OBAMA: Give it up for the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

(CHEERING)

ALLEN: In belated recognition of their perfect season, President Obama welcomed the 1972 Dolphins to the White House in 2013. The president, a well-known Chicago sports fan, acknowledged he'd held a similar reception just a few years earlier for the '85 Bears.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OBAMA: The Bears lost once in their nearly perfect season.

SHULA: Who beat them then?

OBAMA: It happened to be the Dolphins.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLEN: In case you couldn't make it out, that was Shula at the ceremony in a wheelchair reminding the president of the Dolphins' achievement.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OBAMA: So I think you made your point.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLEN: Shula and the Dolphins won the Super Bowl a second time in 1974. In the 1980s, Miami made two more Super Bowl appearances, the last one in 1985 with Dan Marino as quarterback. After his retirement, Shula was involved in a number of business ventures, including a chain of steakhouses that bear his name. As a coach, Shula was known as a leader and motivator, getting the most from his players. Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote says he adapted his coaching style to capitalize on the strength of his players. After relying on a running game in the 1970s, Cote says, Shula changed his coaching style after the Dolphins drafted Marino.

COTE: Marino was setting all kind of passing records. Shula knew what he had, and all of a sudden, this conservative run the ball defense¹⁶ first coach became a guy who was the mastermind of all this record-setting offense¹⁷.

ALLEN: Shula said one of the few regrets he had in his long career was never winning a Super Bowl with Marino. But with a perfect season and the most NFL coaching wins ever, Don Shula said overall he was pretty satisfied with his record. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

5 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

6 abysmal   

adj.无底的，深不可测的，极深的；糟透的，极坏的；完全的

参考例句：

• The film was so abysmal that I fell asleep.电影太糟糕，看得我睡着了。
• There is a historic explanation for the abysmal state of Chinese cuisine in the United States.中餐在美国的糟糕状态可以从历史上找原因。

7 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

8 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

11 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

12 induction   

n.感应，感应现象

参考例句：

• His induction as a teacher was a turning point in his life.他就任教师工作是他一生的转折点。
• The magnetic signals are sensed by induction coils.磁信号由感应线圈所检测。

13 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

14 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

15 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

17 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。