Reward Fits: Shula Gets Carried Off Field : Interconference: Dolphins forgo dousing coach and do the classy thing after record-setting victory over Eagles.

The greatest tribute to Don Shula Sunday involved the one his players would not offer.

Respect for the NFL’s winningest coach was an untouched Gatorade cooler.

Members of the Miami Dolphins were going to dump the liquid on their leader during the final moments of Shula’s record 325th career victory, a 19-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

But at the last second, they changed their minds.

He had just led them to a second-half comeback with their third-string quarterback. He had just convinced them, once again, to embrace the improbable.

They didn’t want him looking like a drowned rat. They wanted him looking like a king.

“A classy man,” guard Keith Sims said. “We looked at the Gatorade and said, ‘You know, we need to do a classy thing.’ ”

And so he was lifted by three linemen and carried across the Veterans Stadium field, his right arm thrust to the sky, his eyes moist, surrounded by dozens of his players straining to touch him.

In passing George Halas for the most career coaching wins in NFL history, Shula traveled in style.

“I think the last time I was up there was in 1972 when we went 17-0,” Shula said of his ride. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on top of anybody’s shoulders. This is a win I’ll always remember.”

So will quarterback Doug Pederson.

Before Sunday, his biggest pro game was in the spring of 1992, when he led the New York/New Jersey Knights to a victory over their bitter rivals, the Frankfurt (Germany) Galaxy.

Pederson, 25, was a third stringer in the World League. When Sunday began, he was the Dolphins’ second stringer behind Scott Mitchell.

Twenty-seven seconds into the second half, with the Dolphins trailing, 14-13, he was standing under center.

Mitchell suffered a separated left shoulder by colliding with linebacker Britt Hager. First Dan Marino, now this.

Teammates were hiding their heads. Gary Stevens, offensive coordinator, was holding out his hands as if to say, what do we do now?

Only Shula did not change his expression. Urging Pederson to stay calm, he instantly downsized their offense and hustled him in for his first NFL regular-season snap.

“I tried to be calm, but with everything flashing through my head, it was real hard,” Pederson said.

On his fourth play from scrimmage, with the Dolphins preparing to score the go-ahead touchdown after recovering an Eagle fumble, Pederson gave the ball back by fumbling on the one-yard line.

“Coach Shula still didn’t say anything bad to me,” Pederson said. “He just kept telling me it was going to be all right, telling me that I could do it.”

And so he did, leading the Dolphins to two field goals while not making any more mistakes. So what if the scores came after drives of one and 45 yards?

The Eagles, with a fumble, a missed field-goal attempt and a dropped pass by James Lofton on the Dolphins’ 10-yard line in the final seconds, did the rest.

After the game, Shula, wearing red lipstick that new wife Mary Anne had distributed across his formidable jaw, said: “This game was special to me mainly because of the way we won.”

Shula, who is now 325-153-6 in the regular season and playoffs, added, “After the game, I thanked the team for hanging in there.”

And the players returned the plaudits by surprising him with an autographed, framed drawing of a sculpture that they have commissioned for him. The sculpture will feature a large hand holding a football.

“I’m sure many of his 325 wins were like this, not pretty, a struggle requiring perseverance,” said veteran linebacker John Offerdahl, who presented the gift.

One of those games was earlier this season, when the Dolphins were trailing the Cleveland Browns, 14-10, when Marino was knocked out for the season with a torn Achilles’ tendon.

“We put in our second string quarterback and won that game, too, right?” Sims asked. “For Coach Shula to pull that off twice in one year, that is really something.”

With Mitchell out for four to six weeks, there are more difficult moments ahead. Pederson, who has been waived during training camp the past three years, threw only six passes, completing three for 34 yards. The offense ran the ball 21 times when he was in the game.

It figures that the Dolphin quarterback for the next month will probably be veteran Steve DeBerg, who was signed this week after being cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Will we survive?” defensive end Jeff Cross asked. “Do we have a choice?”

Not under Don Shula, they don’t.