All Dolphins

The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 12

Combining the countdown to the start of the Dolphins regular season with the best plays in franchise history

Alain Poupart

To help count down the days to the start of the Miami Dolphins regular season last year, we marked each day with the corresponding jersey number and came up with the three best players to wear that number.

This year, we're counting down to the start of the regular season with a countdown of the top 100 plays in Dolphins history.

Given that the Dolphins have played 849 regular season games and 41 more in the playoffs, it's an awfully difficult task to narrow things down to 100 plays and then rank them. The plays selected were ranked on the basis of difficulty, uniqueness, immediate and long-lasting impact and historical significance.

The countdown initially appeared in Dolphin Digest in 2019 but has been updated.

We continue with No. 12:

No. 12: Joe Auer's kickoff return for a touchdown vs. Oakland in 1966

Setting the stage: The Dolphins' very first regular season game took place on a Friday night — Sept. 2, 1966 — against the Oakland Raiders at the Orange Bowl in a battle of AFL opponents. The Raiders were coming off an 8-5-1 season that fell short of a playoff appearance, while the Dolphins naturally didn't have lofty expectations for that first season. The first player to touch the ball for the Dolphins that night would be running back Joe Auer, a product of nearby Coral Gables High who had been claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Rams in mid-August.

The play: As an opening act, it was impossible to top what the Dolphins ended up doing, courtesy of Auer and his teammates on the field for that play. After receiving the opening kickoff from Raiders kicker Mike Mercer at the 5-yard line, Auer pretty much just sprinted straight upfield through a gaping hole produced by his blockers before eventually veering to the left and down the sideline, diving into the end zone after a late shoestring tackle attempt. The Dolphins would go on to lose that game, 23-14, on their way to a 3-11 season, but that first play forever will be remembered.

The No. 100 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 99 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 52 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 51 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 50 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 49 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 14 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 13 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989. You can follow him on Twitter at @PoupartNFL. Feel free to submit questions every Friday for the All Dolphins mailbag.

Published
Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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