The Dolphins continued their undefeated campaign in the postseason, beating the Cleveland Browns in the Division One and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game to set up Super Bowl VII against Washington. In the Dolphins’ ensuing 14-7 victory, Fernandez led Miami with six tackles (17, unofficially) and runs against Billy Kilmer and the Dolphins defense did not allow a single point.
Although Fernandez was the top contender for Super Bowl MVP honors, the award went to safety Jake Scott, who singled out Kilmer twice.
“Honestly, I don’t remember the ending,” Fernandez told Wolfe. “I don’t remember the party after the game. I had a concussion for the last 10 minutes of the game. I looked at my wife when I woke up that morning and asked her, ‘How did we do?’
“The play was … to (Washington running back) Larry Brown. I was the first one to get to him. He almost got loose and I was trying to get him down. Then Nick Buoniconti came in and tried to finish it, and his helmet speared me right in the temple. I got up. I was shaking. I got up to the Redskins’ tackle. It was getting back to the Redskins’ tackle first. But I’m glad that say nowadays I’m still recovering from another game injury – nine back and shoulder operations – but my mind is good and we had the best team ever.
Fernandez and the Dolphins returned to the Super Bowl in 1973, losing two games along the way but once again winning the Lombardi Trophy, this time with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Miami also once again led the league in scoring defense, holding opponents to 10.7 PPG during the regular season.
“We didn’t do it with smoke and mirrors. We did it with great players and coaches,” Fernandez told Wolfe. “Our worst players were better than some teams’ best players. They had your back and you had to do your best to have their back. We talked s— to each other. But we didn’t let anybody talk s— about us.”