Professional Years
He played for the Miami Dolphins from 1969-'76. As the NFL did not officially maintain sack records until 1982, he unofficially led the Dolphins in sacks in 1969 with eight (Still an unofficial team rookie mark that was tied by Lorenzo Bromell in 1998), and picked off 2 passes and returned both for touchdowns. Voted to the 1969 AFL All-Star game. He went to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl from 1971 through 1974)
In 1970, started on the 10-4 Dolphins and again unofficially led the team with sacks, this time with 6. The Dolphins, although improving, lost in the playoffs. The following season Stanfill was an All-AFC choice and was unofficially third on the team with 6½ sacks. The Dolphins advanced to the Super Bowl losing 24-3 to the Dallas Cowboys.
He was unofficially second on the 17-0 Super Bowl winning Dolphins team with 10 sacks (behind left defensive end Vern Den Herder's 10½) and was voted All-Pro by the Associated Press. He was a consensus All-AFC selection that unofficially led the Dolphins in sacks in 1973 with 18½ and was a consensus All-Pro and All-AFC selection as the 12-2 Dolphins won their second straight Super Bowl. His unofficial 1973 sack total still stands as the team record, although All-Pro Jason Taylor tied that mark in 2002 . On October 7, 1973, Stanfill set the unofficial single-game sack record versus the New York Jets. Two weeks later, teammate Vern Den Herder tied that mark against the Buffalo Bills.
In 1974, he unofficially led an again-tough Dolphin defense in sacks with 10, and was voted 2nd team All-Pro by the NEA and Pro Football Writers Association and was All-AFC for the 4th straight season. In November, versus the Buffalo Bills, Stanfill tied his own (and Den Herder's) unofficial game record for sacks, again recording five.
Injuries hampered Stanfill in 1975 and 1976- both knee and neck injured limited his playing time, and marked the end to Stanfill's post-season honors. Still, he unofficially recorded 6½ sacks in 1975 and 4 in 1976. The mark in 1976 did, however, tie him for the team lead on a struggling 6-8 Dolphin team .
In all, Stanfill unofficially totaled 67½ career sacks, which was the team record until broken by Jason Taylor, who now has 131 career sacks with the club (139.5 overall). He also is unofficially tied for 4th in the Dolphins' playoff record for sacks with 4 (tied with Bob Baumhower). Stanfill was mentioned by Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti in his induction speech as being an unsung player on the early 1970s Dolphin teams and as being worthy of consideration for the Hall of Fame.
In 2007, he was voted to the All-Time Miami Dolphin team.
Bill Stanfill was inducted (with Jake Scott) into the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll on November 18, 2010.
Read more about this topic: Bill Stanfill
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