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First Posted: 8/20/2013

(AP) During the 1972 NFL season, the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins played 17 games without a loss. Then they went 40 years without White House acknowledgment of that unmatched feat. Until today.


President Barack Obama will host former team members and their then-coach, Hall of Famer Don Shula, at a White House recognition ceremony for the only NFL team to achieve a perfect season.


The team’s star fullback, Hall of Famer Larry Csonka, is making the trip from Alaska where he hosts an outdoor television show.


The team won Super Bowl VII on Jan. 14, 1973, beating the Washington Redskins 14-7.


But in 1973 President Richard Nixon was preoccupied with the Watergate scandal, and White House salutes to sports teams were less of a tradition than now.


Associated Press