Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Washington Football Team. 

The Miami Dolphins entered the world of Pro Football in 1966 when they joined the AFL.  Once the leagues merged, the Dolphins emerged as one of the first elite powers of the conference in the early 70s, something that seemed incomprehensible based on their early struggles.

The Dolphins went to Super Bowl VI, losing to Dallas, but they would then put forth an undefeated season in 1972 and would win Super Bowl VII, which to date is the only time a team has gone an entire year without a loss. The Dolphins repeated as Super Bowl Champions the following year.

That was the last Super Bowl win for the Dolphins, but they did appear in the big game twice in the 1980s.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Dan Marino

2. Jason Taylor 

3. Zach Thomas

4. Bob Griese

5. Jim Langer

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always we thank you for your support.

Mark Duper showed up in Miami as a second-round pick out of Northwestern State in 1982, and almost nobody noticed at first. He played in only two games as a rookie and did not catch a single pass. Everything changed once Dan Marino took over at quarterback.

The production arrived in a hurry. In 1983, he went from zero catches the year before to 51 receptions for 1,003 yards and made the Pro Bowl. The next season, Marino’s MVP year, Duper put up 1,306 yards as the Dolphins reached the Super Bowl. He made the Pro Bowl again that year and once more in 1986, when he set a career high with 1,313 yards. He cracked 1,000 yards one more time in 1991, but the three Pro Bowls marked the peak of his career in Miami. Even in the years between those peaks, he remained a reliable deep option who could still stretch the field.

What made Duper effective in those years was his speed and the way he got downfield. At 5-foot-9, he was not the biggest receiver, but he created separation quickly and gave Marino a vertical threat opposite Mark Clayton. The two of them became the Marks Brothers, and together they turned Miami’s offense into one of the most explosive of the 1980s. Defenses had to account for both, and when the timing was right, Duper turned short throws into long gains. He was the kind of receiver who made a great quarterback look even more dangerous.

Duper stayed with the Dolphins through 1992, his final season in the league. He finished as the franchise’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 8,869.  He also threw for 59 touchdowns and later joined Clayton in the Dolphins Honor Roll.