Scott And Stanfill Go Into The Dolphin Honor Roll Together

It was a long time coming, but Miami Dolphins legendary safety Jake Scott is finally going into the Dolphin Honor Roll – and he is being inducted alongside his college roommate at the University of Georgia, defensive end Bill Stanfill.

The two will officially be inducted at halftime of Miami’s Thursday night game against the Chicago Bears on November 18th at Sun Life Stadium as just the third and fourth members of the 1970s No Name Defense. In order to earn the high honor a player has to be chosen by a select committee consisting of Hall-of-Fame Head Coach Don Shula, Hall-o-Fame quarterbacks Bob Griese and Dan Marino, Hall-of-Fame running back Larry Csonka and Vice President/Senior Advisor of Alumni Nat Moore.

For Scott, who was the MVP of Super Bowl VII with two interceptions in Miami’s 14-7 victory that completed The Perfect Season, he got his first inkling that this finally might happen when Moore visited him in Hawaii and asked him how he’d feel about going in.

“It’s a real privilege and a real honor and we’re looking forward to it,” said Scott, who was a five-time Pro Bowl selection from 1971-75). “But the main thing about it Bill and I feel like is that it’s just so good for our defense of the 70s because I don’t thin our defense got the respect it deserved. It’s a team thing and we really appreciate it.”

Stanfill also was a five-time Pro Bowl selection in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974. After finishing second on the team with 10 sacks in 1972, he recorded a single-season record 19.5 sacks in 1973 as he teamed up with Vern Den Herder and Manny Fernandez in the Dolphins’ famed 5-3 defense to provide a stiff pass rush. The trip freed up Scott and fellow Honor Roll member Dick Anderson as well as Hall-of-Fame middle linebacker Nick Buonoconti.

But the best part of tonight’s announcement for Stanill was knowing he and Scott will become the 19th and 20th members of the Dolphin Honor Roll together.

“Jake and I have got to be setting some sort of record for two college roommates going into any kind of Hall of Fame at the same time,” Stanfill said. “We roomed together our freshman and sophomore years at Georgia and Jake was a helluva roommate. I only wish injuries hadn’t shortened my career and that I could have given more years of productivity to the organization.”

These players will forever be tied to Shula and those great teams of the 1970s, so it was only fitting that Shula weighed in on this selection as well even though he couldn’t be in Aventura in person.

“It’s only fitting that Jake and Bill are going in together – two Georgia teammates and good friends,” Shula said. “They had great careers with the Dolphins and I’m glad they are being honored on the same day by their induction into the team’s Honor Roll. Both Jake and Bill were big play defenders. Jake had a knack of coming up with key interceptions in big games, with none bigger than his two picks in Super Bowl VII, earning him MVP honors in that contest and helping us finish our “Perfect Season” undefeated. Bill became the leading sacker in Dolphin history, and did so despite the fact that many times we only rushed with three linemen. With two more members of the “No-Name Defense” added to the Honor Roll, it gives more recognition to a defense that certainly deserves it.”

AK