The 1972 Miami Dolphins will be honored in a White House ceremony today, recognizing not only their Super Bowl Championship, but also their status as the only team in NFL history to complete the perfect season with their win over the Washington Redskins in the title game. The ceremony, 41 years after the championship season, is happening thanks to a lot of work from former tight end Marv Fleming.
Over the past 15 years, Fleming has been openly calling and petitioning people in Washington to get the Dolphins the recognition they did not receive after the Super Bowl. While not every championship team visited the White House in the 1970s, it was not an unheard of tradition. However, the Perfect Season ended just as the Watergate scandal was ripping through President Richard Nixon's administration, and the Dolphins never received an invitation.
The ceremony almost happened last year, but the invite came too late for most of the Dolphins players to make the trip. The White House recognized the 1985 Chicago Bears, who won Super Bowl XX having lost just once all year - to the Dolphins - last year. The Bears did not make the trip in 1986 because the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster happened just before their scheduled visit.
You can watch the ceremony in the video embedded above.