1972 Washington Redskins season


The 1972 Washington Redskins season was the team's 41st, and 36th in Washington, D.C. The Redskins were trying to build on the success of the previous season, in which they had made the postseason for the first time in 26 seasons.
Head coach George Allen, in just his second season with the team, took the Redskins to their first Super Bowl. The team, who had missed the postseason in the entirety of the 1950s and 1960s, won its first postseason game since 1943, and appeared in its first league championship game since 1945.
The NFC champion Redskins would ultimately lose a very close Super Bowl VII, 14–7, to the undefeated Miami Dolphins.
The 1972 season was the first in which the team wore its former logo, which featured a Native American head in profile within a gold circle. With the Washington Senators relocating to Texas in 1971 and the Baltimore Bullets not relocating until 1973 the 1972 Redskins were at the time the D.C. area's only team playing in one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

Offseason

NFL Draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool/Club Team
8203Moses DensonRunning BackMaryland-Eastern Shore
9229Steve BoekholderDefensive EndDrake
10255Mike OldhamWide ReceiverMichigan
11281Jeff WelchDefensive BackArkansas Tech
12307Don BunceQuarterbackStanford
13332Frank GrantWide ReceiverSouthern Colorado
15365Mike O'QuinnGuardMcNeese State
15385Carl TaibiDefensive EndColorado
16411Steve HigginbothamDefensive BackAlabama
17437Kevin ClementeLinebackerBoston College

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

Postseason

WeekDateOpponentResultAttendance
DivisionalDecember 24, 1972Green Bay PackersW 16–3
53,140
Conference ChampionshipDecember 31, 1972Dallas CowboysW 26–3
53,129
Super BowlJanuary 14, 1973Miami DolphinsL 14–7
90,182

Awards and records