Mercury Morris, through his yearly champagne ritual, has turned himself into the most well-known defender of the 1972 Miami Dolphins' merits as the best NFL team ever. Morris cracks open a bottle of bubbly every year when the last undefeated professional football team falls from the ranks, does a round of interviews about how his squad was the best ever, and then disappears for a year until he repeats the process for the next team.

It should come as no surprise, then, that he's not exactly all that impressed with the 12-0 Carolina Panthers just yet. "These guys have just as much a chance to go unbeaten as they do to lose next Sunday," Morris said, per NFL.com. "So when they get to the end and they're 18 and got one left, then come talk to me and I'll tell you what I think. The biggest canyon in this country is the Grand Canyon. Do you know what the second largest canyon is? That's my point, nobody cares."

Other members of that fabled team, though, feel differently about the latest team to set its sights on a perfect season. See, Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula is the son of legendary coach Don Shula, who led the '72 Dolphins to their undefeated season. So the older Shula, as well as other members of the '72 team like Bob Greise and Larry Csonka, are actually rooting for the Panthers to join them in the annals of history.

"I enjoy watching all the games that I can, and hopefully [the Panthers] will be there at the end of the year," Don Shula said. "That would make me proud. I would be so proud. I would want him to do as good or more, that's what it's all about."

"I'm all for Mike Shula," Greise said. "They gotta win what -- 7 more games? But it's like I say every year when the Patriots are undefeated. I'll be the first guy to pick up the phone and call Tom Brady or Cam Newton and say, 'Hey, welcome to the mountaintop. It was a hell of a thing you just did.' "

Csonka's a little less gung ho than his former coach and quarterback, but he's at least not throwing Morris-style shade. "Obviously we're paying a great deal of attention to (the Panthers) -- all of us," Csonka said. "It's kind of a split decision. If it was just the Panthers, of course I'd be opposed. I wouldn't want to see them do that. When there's a Shula with them, that's a different story. I can't say I'm pulling against the Panthers. I might not say I'm pulling for them, but I'm certainly not pulling against them. I wish Michael the best and hopefully he'll wait and maybe be a Dolphins coach when he decides to go undefeated."

The Panthers have four regular season games left, of which they'll obviously have to win all four to become the first team to finish the regular season undefeated since the 2007 Patriots. Carolina hosts the Falcons this Sunday before traveling to play the Giants and Falcons (again), then finishing up the regular season at home against the Buccaneers. Even if the Panthers get through all four of those games, they obviously would have to win three straight playoff games as well to finish off the perfect season. As Greise said, it would be a hell of a thing to do.

A few members of the 1972 Dolphins would like to see Cam Newton's team finish undefeated. (USATSI)