NFL removes two Don Shula victories from official record, citing Playoff Bowl status
The NFL has revised Don Shula’s career win total to 347, excluding results from the 1965 and 1966 Playoff Bowls, a move that has reignited debate over the consistency of sports record-keeping.
The National Football League has officially rescinded two career victories from former head coach Don Shula, reducing his official record to 347 wins. The decision concerns Shula’s 35-3 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1965 Playoff Bowl, as well as a subsequent win against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1966 edition of the same contest. The league has excluded these results from official postseason and coaching records, maintaining that the matches lacked the stakes of a championship game.
The controversy surrounding the Playoff Bowl, a third-place match held between 1966 and 1972, has gained renewed public attention following the 2022 FIFA World Cup. French player Kylian Mbappé expressed regret over his status as the tournament’s all-time top scorer, noting that his record was partly due to goals scored in the third-place match against Croatia. Mbappé told FOX Sports that he would have preferred not to hold the record if it meant playing in the consolation match, highlighting the inconsistency in how such games are treated across different sports.
Critics of the NFL’s current record-keeping point to this inconsistency, arguing that if the games were played, counted in the standings at the time, and required full effort from players and coaches, they should be included in official statistics. The 1965 Playoff Bowl was scheduled and conducted like any other regular-season contest, appearing in the 1965 Cowboys media guide. However, traditionalists argue that the matches were often viewed as consolation games and were derided by some figures of the era, justifying their exclusion from historical records.
As a result of the adjustment, Shula finished his career with 328 regular-season wins and 19 playoff wins, bringing his total to 347 rather than the previously held 349. The decision also removes player statistics from the 1965 Playoff Bowl from the official books, including those of Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith, defensive lineman Bob Lilly, and running back Don Perkins. Tom Landry, the Cowboys’ head coach at the time, sits fifth on the all-time coaching wins list with 270 combined victories.
The revision places Shula’s legacy in a new context relative to current NFL coaches. Bill Belichick, the longtime Patriots coach, is close with 333 combined wins, while Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, with 307 combined wins, has a chance to surpass the legendary Shula with a few more successful years. For historians and fans, the decision leaves a lingering question regarding the value of a game played over 60 years ago.
