Former longtime Miami Dolphins wide receiver Howard Twilley died a week ago. He was 81.
Browns fans may not remember it, or perhaps they were never aware of it, but he was part of the reason why Cleveland and Miami pulled off one of the biggest trades in the history of both franchises nearly 55 years ago.
Yes, we’re talking about the deal in which, in the days leading up to the 1970 NFL Draft, the Browns sent wide receiver Paul Warfield to the Dolphins for their No. 3 overall pick in the draft, which Cleveland used to select Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps.
It was head coach Don Shula’s first year in Miami after coming from the Baltimore Colts. Shula inherited a prospective great quarterback in Bob Griese and a pretty good receiver in Twilley, who had been taken in 1966 in the last AFL Draft by the expansion Dolphins out of Tulsa, where he had finished second to USC running back Mike Garrett in the Heisman Trophy voting. Shula knew that for the Dolphins to become Super Bowl contenders, they needed a prolific, game-breaking, take-the-top-of-the-defense pass catcher. They needed to give Griese a weapon that would get the attention of opposing defensive coordinators around the NFL.
The Browns, on the other hand, had a good quarterback in Bill Nelsen, who had taken them to two straight NFC Championship Games after being acquired in a trade with the arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968. But because of his ailing knees, he was playing on borrowed time. The Browns needed a talented young quarterback to succeed him.
That’s what caused the teams to begin talking. The Dolphins were willing to give up that third pick, but they wanted in return Warfield, who would fit perfectly into their offense as the No. 1 receiver while allowing Twilley to slide into a complementary role. Warfield, out of Warren Harding High School and Ohio State, was drafted first by the Browns in 1964 and was a rookie star on the team that throttled Shula’s Colts 27-0 to win the NFL title. Since then, Warfield and Gary Collins, who caught three touchdown passes against Baltimore that day, had become the best receiving duo in the NFL. Shula had had a standout receiving pair with the Colts in Raymond Berry and Jimmy Orr. And while Shula, a product of Painesville Harvey High School and John Carroll University, was with the Browns as a safety in 1951 and ‘52, he saw a prolific twosome in Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie.
On and one it goes with the value — and advantage — of having two good receivers. Shula was a smart guy. He knew what — and who — he wanted, and what — and who — would get the Dolphins to the big game, where his Colts were following the 1968 season when they were upset 16-7 by the New York Jets, who had a decent pair of receivers themselves in Don Maynard and George Sauer.
Anyway, as mentioned, Shula wanted Warfield and refused to back down even when Browns owner Art Modell balked and tried to offer instead another player who ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, running back Leroy Kelly. No Warfield, no deal, Shula told him. Realizing how badly the Browns needed a young quarterback, and that they likely wouldn’t be able to find one near the bottom of the draft where they were selecting, Modell relented and pulled the trigger on a trade that shocked Cleveland fans — and players — everywhere, and with good reason. It changed the trajectory of two teams.
The Browns and Dolphins met in the 1972 AFC divisional playoffs at the Orange Bowl. The Browns took the lead 14-13 on Phipps’ 27-yard TD pass with just over eight minutes left, but the Dolphins took the ensuing kickoff and marched right back down the field for the game-winning scoring run, the big play being Griese’s 35-yard pass to — you guessed it — Warfield on a post pattern. The game ended when, on the Browns’ last-ditch drive, Phipps got picked off, his fifth interception of the day.
That, in a nutshell, indicated how that trade worked out.
The Dolphins went on to win the Super Bowl, edging Washington 14-7 as Twilley caught a 28-yard TD pass from Griese for their first score. That completed the Dolphins’ perfect 17-0 season to become the first pro football team since the 1948 Browns (15-0 in the All-America Football Conference) to finish the season undefeated and untied and win a league title. It was a club that Shula followed from his close vantage point of John Carroll.
Twilley was also part of the Dolphins when they repeated as Super Bowl champions.
Meanwhile, as Phipps flopped, so did the Browns, as they entered their first down period ever.
Here are some final things to think about as we wind down this tale of Howard Twilley’s unwitting part in Dolphins and Browns major history: He was also chosen by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1966 NFL Draft (the leagues held their first combined draft the following year). What if he had signed with the Vikings instead of the Dolphins? How might that have changed history, and if so, by how much? Would it have been enough to keep the Browns from making that, or any other ill-fated trade, to find a quarterback? Would it have kept Warfield with the Browns and away from the Dolphins? And would the Dolphins have been able to win those Super Bowls without Warfield, or would they have found some other receiver who would have done the same thing for them?
With any of this, we’ll just never know, will we?
Steve King
