NFL loses legend as Dolphins Coach Don Shula dies at 90

Don Shula, the only coach to lead his team to a perfect season and the NFL's wins record-holder, has died, according to his family. He was 90.

Shula compiled a 347-173-6 record in 33 seasons as coach of the Baltimore Colts and then Miami Dolphins from 1963-1995. His 1972 Dolphins were the only team to finish an undefeated season as Super Bowl champions and they won it all once again the following year.

"Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years," said a statement from the team. "He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami on the national sports scene."

Before he was the winningest coach in NFL history -- he's one of just two coaches to win 300 regular-season games (George Halas the other) and three coaches if you count the postseason (add Bill Belichick) -- Shula was a defensive back for the Browns, Colts and Redskins for seven seasons from 1951-57. Despite that, he never appeared on a standard football card of his own as a player during his career -- he did have cards made showing him from that portion of his career in the 2000s.

Shula's first in-pack card appearances came in the 1964 Philadelphia set (above) where he was shown with a pair of plays -- not a very traditional card -- and his only other cards for years were from team issue and police sets. His Rookie Card using traditional hobby definitions arrived in 1989 Pro Set, which was a game-changing release that included coaches alongside players on cards that looked the same (up top) for the first time in traditional packs. Despite a lifetime in the game, Shula appears on fewer than 250 different football cards.

The Hall of Famer appears on almost 100 different certified autograph cards with the earliest ones coming in the 1991 and 1992 Pro Line sets -- and that second release included a page of nine cards detailing the steps and moments in his career showing him alongside his family, which included a pair of sons who went on to be head coaches -- Dave in the NFL and Mike in the college ranks (and then as an NFL assistant). Those also can all be found signed. He last signed in 2013 when he appeared in a single Panini America release, Playbook, on just 25 cards and then in Leaf Sports Heroes and Sportkings Series F. His only standard Topps card appearances came back in 1997 -- a Hall of Fame Class insert that also had an autographed version with both using the 1972 Topps design -- and then a pair of 1/1 cut autographs in 2004.

How did Shula want his career summed up?

“I want them to say that he won within the rules,” Shula said (read more about his life and career here). “That he had players that took a lot of pride in playing within the rules. And that his teams played an exciting brand of football, wide-open football, that made it exciting for the fans. I want them to say that his players loved it, the coaches loved it, the fans loved it and I loved it -- when we won. I want them to say that we did it all the right way. Always the right way.”

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