Garo Yepremian, a two-time Pro Bowl kicker who helped the Miami Dolphins win consecutive championships in the 1970s, has died of cancer at the age of 70, the National Football League team said Saturday.
Yepremian played 14 NFL seasons, including nine with the Dolphins, and kicked a 37-yard field goal in double overtime in a 1971 playoff game against Kansas City to give the Dolphins a victory in the longest game in NFL history.
“His effusive personality supplemented his strong competitive nature, and no one made more pressure kicks than Garo,” the Dolphins said in a statement.
Three times Yepremian led the NFL in kicking accuracy but often is remembered for a Super Bowl gaffe that could have cost the Dolphins the 1972 title.
With the Dolphins leading 14-0 and just over two minutes left in the game, the Washington Redskins’ Bill Brundige blocked Yepremian’s field-goal attempt. Yepremian picked up the ball and tried to throw it but it slipped out of his hands into the air.
Yepremian tried to bat it out of bounds but batted in back in the air and into hands of the Redskins’ Mike Bass, who ran 49 yards for a touchdown.
The Dolphins won the game to complete their perfect 17-0 season, but Yepremian always will be remembered for the blunder.
“Even that miscue demonstrated his competitiveness — he was just trying to do whatever it took to make a play,” the Dolphins said.
Yepremian, who also played for Detroit, New Orleans and Tampa Bay, remains the second leading scorer in Dolphins history.
Over his career, Yepremian made 210 of 313 field goals (67.1 percent) and 444 of 464 extra points.