After two unremarkable seasons as a backup guard with the San Diego Chargers, Larry Little was traded to the Miami Dolphins for Mack Lamb. Little wasn’t thrilled. The Dolphins weren’t particularly good at the time, and he had no idea the franchise was about to start building something special. Lamb never played a down for the Chargers. We know who won that one.

Once he arrived in Miami, Little settled in at right guard and immediately looked like a different player. He made the AFL All-Star team in his first season with the Dolphins. From 1971 through 1975, he was first-team All-Pro every year, leading the sweeps and clearing the lanes for Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris, and the rest of that ground game. He was a central piece of the lines that won Super Bowls VII and VIII, including the perfect 1972 season. He was so good, he recieved MVP and Offensive Player of the Year votes. After that peak stretch, he still collected second-team All-Pro honors in 1977 and 1978, then played two more seasons before retiring in 1980. He was later named to the 1970s All-Decade Team.

What set Little apart was how he played the position. He wasn’t the biggest man on the field, but he was quick enough to get out and lead the sweeps that defined Miami’s attack, and strong enough to hold his ground when the play stayed between the tackles. Teammates and opponents both talked about the way he could erase a defensive end or linebacker on the move, then still be in position to finish the block. In an era when the Dolphins wanted to run the ball first and ask questions later, he made the math work. Don Shula later said Little’s combination of mobility and power was exactly what the offense needed once the coach decided to lean on the run.

He also lasted. Knee and ankle issues showed up, as they do for almost every lineman who plays that long, yet he missed only a handful of games across more than a decade in Miami. The line around him changed, the supporting cast changed, and the team’s window closed, but Little kept starting and kept getting recognition well after the back-to-back titles. That consistency is part of why the Hall of Fame voters eventually put him in, even if it took a few years after he became eligible.

The Chargers moved a young guard they weren’t sure about. Miami got a cornerstone of their best teams and a Hall of Famer. Again, who won the trade?