Player of American football, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. An outstanding quarterback with the Miami Dolphins, in the 1984 season he gained 5084 yards passing, and passed for 48 touchdowns, both National Football League (NFL) records. His career totals of 58 913 yards and 408 touchdown passes are both NFL records, but he went into the 1999 season, his 17th, still looking for a Super Bowl ring. He announced his retirement in 2000, and was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2005.
| Dan Marino | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | September 15, 1961 |
| Place of birth | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| College | Pittsburgh |
| NFL Draft | 1983 / Round 1/ Pick 27 |
| Pro Bowls | 9 |
| Awards |
1998 Walter Payton MOY 1994 NFL Comeback POY 1994 UPI AFC Offensive MVP 1984 AP NFL MVP 1984 AP Offensive POY 1984 PFWA MVP 1984 UPI AFC Offensive MVP, 1984 Bert Bell Award |
| Retired #s |
Miami Dolphins #13 |
| Records |
NFL Passing Yards in a Season (5,084) NFL Passing Yards in a Career (61,361) |
| Statistics | Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball |
| Team(s) | |
| 1983–1999 | Miami Dolphins |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2005 | |
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) is a Hall of Fame quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. The last quarterback of the legendary Quarterback Class of 1983 to be taken, Marino holds or has held almost every meaningful NFL passing record, and despite never being on a Super Bowl-winning team, is widely recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in football history. Remembered particularly for having the quickest release of his and previous eras and a powerful arm, with no running back to break the one thousand yards in a season barrier and weak defenses year in and year out, Marino continued to drive the Dolphins into playoff contention throughout his career. In a Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... segment of the sports television show ESPN the number one reason stated for Marino never leading the Dolphins to a Super Bowl victory was, Management Let Him Down, by perennially not providing a strong enough supporting cast for Marino to lead.
Early years
Marino was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of Italian and Polish ancestry.
College career
After an excellent high school career, Marino played college ball at the University of Pittsburgh from the 1979 to 1982 seasons, leading the Panthers to a Sugar Bowl triumph over the Georgia Bulldogs in January 1982. In his final 2 seasons, Marino led his team to a 22-2 record, and he led the nation in touchdown passes (34) as a junior. Marino left Pitt with 7,905 passing yards and 74 touchdown passes.
With the down season of his last year at Pitt and unsubstantiated rumors of drug abuse, Marino's selection status in the 1983 NFL Draft plummeted. Five other quarterbacks, including Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and John Elway and less successful players Tony Eason and Todd Blackledge had been taken before Don Shula and the Miami Dolphins grabbed Marino with the 27th pick overall.
Professional career
Being drafted by the defending AFC Champions placed Marino in an ideal situation, where the strong armed rookie could succeed immediately. After starting the season as a backup to incumbent starter David Woodley and seeing action twice off the bench to relieve an ineffective Woodley, Marino was given his first NFL start in Week 6 versus the Buffalo Bills. Marino looked shaky in that game mostly due to a sprained knee he had suffered three weeks prior versus Houston, causing him to miss the last two regular season games.
The following season would be Marino's best. Marino had another 8 touchdown passes in the post-season, four of which came against his hometown Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.
In Super Bowl XIX Marino and the Dolphins met Joe Montana and the 49ers. Marino was above average, completing 29 of 50 passes for 318 yards and a touchdown.
After the Super Bowl loss, Marino's Dolphins went 12-4. On December 2, 1985 Marino completed 14 of 27 passes for 270 yards and triumphed over the 12-0 Chicago Bears (thus ensuring that the Dolphins would remain the only team to go undefeated in a season) in the highest rated Monday Night Football telecast in history. New England intercepted Marino twice and recovered 4 fumbles en route to a 31-14 win over the Dolphins, their first win in the Orange Bowl (Miami's home stadium at the time) since 1966, the Dolphins' first season of play.
With Marino at the helm, the Dolphins were a perennial playoff contender, reaching the post-season in 10 of Marino's 17 seasons. However, disaster would strike Marino and the Dolphins in Cleveland after a swing pass; Marino, who was untouched on the play, crumpled to the ground in pain with a torn achilles tendon and was out for the season. Complicating matters was that in Marino's absence, backup quarterback Scott Mitchell had an impressive series of starts before suffering an injury of his own that season. As a result, for the first time in a decade, Miami had a quarterback controversy in that there was debate in the media and amongst fans about whether to keep the younger Mitchell (who was a free agent after the season) or the proven veteran Marino, who it was feared wouldn't be the same after the injury. Wearing a special shoe and with a right calf that was visibly atrophied compared to before the injury, Marino was once again the starting QB at the start of the 1994 season.
In a season where Marino's viability was very much a question mark at the outset of the year, two of Marino's signature games would take place in 1994. The first would be Miami's first game that season, which was at home versus the New England Patriots and their upstart quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who drew more than a few comparisons to a young Marino. For his 4000-plus passing yards that season, Marino was given the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award.
Marino would never go any further than the divisional round of the playoffs through the remainder of his career, which included the resignation of his longtime coach Shula and the arrival of Jimmy Johnson, whose ball-control philosophy had worked to the tune of two championships while with the Dallas Cowboys and who guaranteed a Super Bowl win in Miami. Johnson attempted to de-emphasise Miami's passing game, but in his 4 seasons as coach of the Dolphins never found a running back, albeit trying several players at the position.
While now more injury prone and less consistent than he had been at the peak of his abilities, at no other time was Marino's decline as evident as a Thanksgiving game in 1999 versus the Cowboys. In his first game back after missing a month due to injury, Marino threw 5 interceptions, which was a major factor in the Dolphins losing 20-0. The Dolphins would then proceed to lose 4 out of their next 5 games to finish the season at 9-7, backing into the playoffs, with Johnson and Marino increasingly clashing as the season wore on.
Marino's final win was his first playoff road win, and his 37th comeback win, as the Dolphins defeated the Seattle Seahawks in January 2000, the final football game played in the Kingdome. Former NFL running back Craig James, who had played for SMU in Marino's final collegiate game, would have a footnote role in his pro finale as well: He had picked the Dolphins to win that game on CBS' The NFL Today -- where he would one day be joined as a panelist by Marino -- and said, "This game went from 'upset special' to 'upset stomach!'"
Before the 2000 season, Marino decided to retire, after declining offers from Minnesota and his hometown of Pittsburgh. Also, despite the fact that he was not known for his scrambling ability (he averaged less than 1 yard per carry on his 301 career rushing attempts), Marino possessed an uncanny awareness in the pocket, often sliding a step or two to avoid the pass rush. in fact, Marino's Dolphins would give up the fewest sacks in the NFL for each of his first eight seasons.
He was the 1994 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after having a Pro Bowl season when he returned from a season ending achilles tendon injury at Cleveland in 1993.
NFL records set by Dan Marino
(Note: This list documents records set by Dan Marino. Some of the records have since been broken.)
Most Attempts, Career: 8,358 Most Completions, Career: 4,967 Most Yards Passing, Career: 61,361 Most Touchdown Passes, Career: 420 Most Passing Yards, Season: 5,084 in 1984 Most Touchdown Passes, Season: 48 (since broken by Peyton Manning 49) Most Games, 400 or more Yards Passing, Season: 4 in 1984 Most Games, 300 or more Yards Passing, Career: 60 Most Seasons, 3,000 or more Yards Passing: 13 (1984-92, 1994-95, 1997-98) (since broken by Brett Favre 14 and counting) Most Consecutive Seasons, 3,000 or more Yards Passing: 9 (1984-92) (since broken by Brett Favre 14 and counting) Most Games, Four or more Touchdown Passes, Career: 21 Most Games, Four or more Touchdown Passes, Season: 6 in 1984 Lowest Percentage, Passes Intercepted, Rookie Season: 2.03 in 1983 (296-6) Most Seasons Leading League, Attempts: 5 (1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1997) Most Seasons Leading League, Completions: 6 (1984-86, 1988, 1992, 1997) Most Seasons, 40 or more Touchdown Passes: 2 (1984, 1986) 100 TD Passes in Fewest Amount of Games to Start Career: 44 (9/7/86 at San Diego) 200 TD passes in Fewest Amount of Games to Start Career: 89 (9/17/89 at New England) 300 TD passes in Fewest Amount of Games to Start Career: 157 (9/4/94 vs. Washington, 1966-67, 1969) Most Consecutive Seasons Leading League, Completions: 3 (1984-86) with George Blanda (Houston, 1963-65) Most Consecutive Games, 400 or more Yards Passing: 2 (1984) with Dan Fouts (San Diego, 1982) and Phil Simms (N.Y. Giants, 1985) Most Seasons, 4000 or more Yards Passing: (1984-86, 1988, 1992, 1994) with Peyton Manning (Indianapolis, 1999-2004)Additional statistics
Regular Season:
Named NFL Most Valuable Player (1984) Played 242 games, starting 240 of them Career completion percentage of 59.4% Career passing efficiency rating is 86.4 Threw 252 interceptions in his career First QB in NFL history to have six 4,000-yard seasons (1984-86, 1988, 1992, 1994) Only QB in NFL history to pass for 5,000 or more yards in a single season (5,084 in 1984) Led 37 fourth-quarter comeback victories, second only to John Elway. Started 240 Regular Season Games and Held a 147-93 record as a starter ( Second to John Elway's NFL Best 148-82-1 Regular Season Record ) Played in 18 Playoff Games and Held an 8-10 Record in the Playoffs One of only six quarterbacks in NFL history that have achieved two consecutive (back-to-back) 30-touchdown passing seasons at least one time in their careers (the others are Steve Bartkowski, Brett Favre, Dan Fouts, Jeff Garcia, and Y.Playoffs:
Passed for 4,510 yards over career in playoff games Threw at least one touchdown pass in 16 of his 18 playoff contests, throwing a TD pass in his first 13 postseason contests.Life after football
The cover of Marino's 2005 autobiography
On Sunday, September 17, 2000, at halftime of the Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens game at Pro Player Stadium, Dan Marino’s jersey number, 13, was retired. In a year of accolades from the franchise he led so long and so well, the Dolphins also installed a life-size bronze statue of Marino at Pro Player Stadium (now Dolphin Stadium) and renamed Stadium Street, Dan Marino Boulevard.
In 2003, Marino was honored for his outstanding NCAA career at Pitt with an induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
In early 2004, Dan Marino briefly returned to the Miami Dolphins as Senior Vice President of Football Operations, but resigned from the newly-created position only three weeks later, saying that the role was not in the best interest of either his family or the Dolphin organization.
Dan Marino was a first-ballot selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Dan Marino Foundation
The Dan Marino Foundation, was established in 1992 by Marino and his wife, Claire, after their son, Michael, was diagnosed with autism.
On November 7, 2005, the National Basketball Association's Miami Heat honored Marino's charitable works and recognized his service to South Florida with a halftime tribute, including a large donation to the Marino Foundation.
One of the most storied pieces of Marino folklore is The Clock Play, a classic piece of misdirection devised by Marino and backup QB Bernie Kosar. In a classic game of two halves, however, Marino and the Dolphins came back in the second half, bringing the score to within three points of the Jets at 24-21 on the back of three Marino touchdown passes to Mark Ingram.
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