Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a feat only Hall of Fame outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor accomplished in his career.
While Watt never got a chance to play against Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins in the 1980s like Taylor did, the five-time All-Pro honored the Hall of Fame coach in a tweet on Monday after the 90-year-old passed away at his Miami Lakes, Fla., residence.
“‘Don Shula can take his and beat yours, and he could take yours and beat his,’ – Bum Phillips,” Watt wrote. “The NFL lost a legend today. Rest In Peace Don.”
Shula coached the Dolphins to two Super Bowl wins at the end of the 1972 and 1973 seasons as part of his tenure with the club from 1970-95. The four-time NFL Coach of the Year also led the Dolphins to a perfect season in 1972, including a victory in Super Bowl VII over Washington. At the end of the 1995 season, Shula retired with 347 wins, the most total wins as a coach in NFL history, and won 71 of those games as coach of the Baltimore Colts from 1963-69.
