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ATHENS, Ga. — In a ranch house not far from the stadium where Bill Stanfill played college football, there is a picture of the hulking defensive lineman from the final seconds of the Super Bowl played at the end of the 1972 season. In the black-and-white photo, Stanfill and a teammate, Vern Den Herder, are tackling Washington Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer.
The sack was the final play of the game, a thumping exclamation point on the N.F.L.’s only perfect season. The 1972 Dolphins used a bruising running game and a ferocious defense to finish with a 17-0 record, a feat that inspired the N.