Dan Marino

Dan Marino

No. 13
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	September 15 1961 (1961-09-15)
Place of birth:	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Weight: 228 lb (104 kg)
National Football League Debut
Debut: 1983 for the Miami Dolphins Last apperance: 1999 for the Dolphins
Career information
High school:	Central Catholic (PA)
College:	Pittsburgh
NFL Draft:	1983 / Rnd: 1 / Pck: 27th
Career hisory
Miami Dolphins (1983-1999)
Career highlights and awards
9× Pro Bowl (1983–1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995) 3× First-team All-Pro (1984–1986) 4× Second-team All-Pro (1983, 1992, 1994, 1995) NFL Most Valuable Player (1984) NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1984) Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (1998) NFL Rookie of the Year (1983) NFL Comeback Player of the Year (1994) 5× NFL passing yards leader (1984–1986, 1988, 1992) 3× NFL passing touchdowns leader (1984–1986) NFL passer rating leader (1984) Miami Dolphins No. 13 retired Miami Dolphin Honor Roll First-team All-American (1981) Pittsburgh Panthers No. 13 retired

Daniel Constantine (Dan) Marino, Jr. (born September 15, 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American Hall of Fame quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. The last quarterback of the Quarterback Class of 1983 to be taken in the first round, Marino became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in league history, holding or having held almost every major NFL passing record. Despite never being on a Super Bowl-winning team, he is recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in American football history. Remembered particularly for having a quick release and a powerful arm, Marino led the Dolphins into the playoffs on numerous occasions.

Early years

Marino was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of both Italian and Polish ancestry. He is the oldest child of Daniel and Veronica (Kolczynski) Marino, and has two younger sisters, Cindi and Debbie. His father delivered newspapers for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Marino grew up on Parkview Avenue in the South Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and attended St. Regis Catholic Elementary School. He attended Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, where he started in baseball, and won Parade All-American honors in football. He was drafted in the 4th round by the Kansas City Royals baseball team in the 1979 amateur draft, but decided to play college football instead.

College career

Marino played college football at the University of Pittsburgh from 1979 to 1982. As a freshman in 1979, Marino led the Panthers in a 24-17 triumph over West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl. He led the Panthers to a last-minute triumph over the Georgia Bulldogs in the 1982 Sugar Bowl by throwing the game-winning pass to tight end John Brown with less than a minute remaining. His team lost the 1983 Cotton Bowl Classic 7-3 to Southern Methodist and their "Pony Express" of Eric Dickerson and Craig James. His senior year was not his best year, and he finished ninth in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1982, after finishing fourth the previous year.

Marino's selection status in the 1983 NFL Draft plummeted after a subpar senior season at Pitt, rumors of drug use and rumors that knee injuries (resulting in four knee surgeries) were hampering his mobility. Five other quarterbacks (Ken O'Brien, Tony Eason, Todd Blackledge and Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and John Elway) were drafted ahead of him.

Professional career with Miami Dolphins (NFL)

Marino was the first draft pick in the history of the United States Football League, selected by the Los Angeles Express. He did not sign with the team, choosing instead to sign with the defending AFC Champions Miami Dolphins who chose Marino with the 27th overall pick in the NFL draft. After starting the season as a backup to incumbent starter David Woodley, Marino was given his first NFL start in Week 6 versus the Buffalo Bills. Marino and Miami lost that game 38–35 in overtime. As a rookie, Marino set several records: he posted a 96.0 passer rating, he was selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie, he had the lowest percentage of passes intercepted with 2.03, he was the only rookie quarterback to lead a conference in passing, and he had the highest passing completion percentage with 58.45.

The following year, Marino broke six NFL full-season passing records, including the records for most touchdown passes (48, stood for 20 years, broken by Peyton Manning in 2004, and later by Tom Brady) and most passing yards (5,084, stood for 27 years, broken by Drew Brees in 2011) in a season, and was selected as the NFL's Most Valuable Player. The Dolphins finished with a 14–2 regular season record, clinching home-field advantage for the playoffs. In the first round, the Dolphins avenged their playoff loss of the previous season to Seattle Seahawks 31–10, and they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game 45–28.

In Super Bowl XIX, Marino and the Dolphins faced off against San Francisco 49ers and Joe Montana in Stanford Stadium. The Dolphins, who had 74 rushing attempts in the previous two weeks, ran the ball only eight times in this game. Marino finished with 29 completions out of 50 attempts for 318 yards, throwing one touchdown pass and two interceptions. The Dolphins lost 38–16 in what was Marino's only Super Bowl appearance.

Dan Marino at Miami, while battling against the Rams.

In 1993, Miami was strongly favored at the start of the year to make it back to the AFC championship game and possibly the Super Bowl. However, after throwing a swing pass at a game in Cleveland, Marino, who was untouched on the play, crumpled to the ground in pain with a torn Achilles tendon and was out for the season. Marino later said, "I felt like I'd been shot". Backup quarterback Scottt Mitchell had an impressive series of starts before suffering an injury of his own. Mitchell signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions, and Miami signed veteran quarterback Bernie Kosar from the Dallas Cowboys as a backup. Wearing a special shoe on one foot, and having a right calf that was visibly atrophied, Marino was the starting quarterback at the start of the 1994 season.

In the season opener, a home game versus the New England Patriots and quarterback Drew Bledsoe, the two quarterbacks put up a combined 894 yards (Marino, 473 yards; Bledsoe, 421 yards) and nine passing touchdowns (Marino, 5; Bledsoe, 4), with Miami winning 39–35. Later in the season, Marino led a comeback win on the road against the New York Jets (28–24), a game famous for Marino's execution of a fake spike for the winning touchdown pass, a play known as "The Clock Play". The Dolphins finished 10–6 that year, and Marino passed for 4,453 yards and was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year.

Marino's final win was his first playoff road win and his 36th comeback win, as the Dolphins defeated the Seattle Seahawks 20–17 on January 9, 2000 in the final football game ever in the Seattle Kingdome. In the next round (January 16), also on the road, Marino and the Dolphins lost 62–7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Dolphins' 55 point margin of loss was the worst in AFC Playoff history. Marino was replaced by backup Damon Huard after playing one series in the second half. However, he did end the first half on a high note, leading the Dolphins on an 80-yard scoring drive and throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to receiver Oronde Gadsden with 20 seconds remaining. The Jacksonville game marked the end of Jimmy Johnson's coaching career; Johnson announced his retirement the next day.

Before the 2000 season, Marino decided to retire, after declining offers from Minnesota, Tampa Bay and his hometown of Pittsburgh when the Dolphins declined his option on his contract. When asked at his retirement press conference why he decided to retire, he responded:

That is a good question. Boy, I really struggled with this. This has been the toughest month of my life as far as dealing with playing football or retiring. After the season, I pretty much thought that I was not going to play anymore and I felt that way for a while and I think it was because of the physical aspects of the game. It kept coming back to how my legs felt during last season, going through the neck injury; not knowing whether I was going to be able to throw the football, and family reasons also, but Claire and the kids, they were great. They wanted me to play, be honest with you. Really, it was my decision, a family decision and a health decision.

Marino later admitted that he seriously considered the offer from the Vikings, but that he turned it down not because of his arm, but because he wasn't sure that his legs could take another season. He also appreciated the fact that unlike many of his contemporaries, he got to play his entire career with one team.

Legacy

During Marino's career, the Dolphins were perennial playoff contenders, reaching the post-season in 10 of his 17 seasons. He was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls (1983–87, 1991–92, 1994–95), seven times as a starter, but due to injuries he only played in two of the games (1984, 1992). He was named first- or second-team All-Pro eight times and earned All-AFC honors six times. Marino never had the benefit of a premier running back, and in his career only once had a 1000 yard rusher behind him (Karim Abdul-Jabbar, 1117 yards in 1996) although an effort was made by the Dolphins to acquire eventual Hall of Famer Barry Sanders after the 1998 season. A trade was reportedly close but never came to fruition, which led to Sanders' abrupt retirement. In his first three seasons with Miami, Marino saw the Dolphins rush for 5,797 yards (1,932 per-season average) and the Dolphins broke 1,500 rushing yards each year in his first five seasons and eleven times total; fourteen of his seventeen Dolphins squads posted better rushing attacks (over 3.4 YPA).

In 1999, Marino was ranked number 27 on The Sporting News list of the 100 greatest football players, making him the highest-ranking Dolphins player. In 2010 he was ranked number 25 on the NFL's Top 100 Greatest Players list. Marino was known for his quick release, and despite the fact that he was not skilled at scrambling, Marino possessed an uncanny awareness in the pocket, often sliding a step or two to avoid the pass rush. Marino is currently third, behind Brett Favre and John Elway, on the list of most wins by a starting quarterback, with 147. His winning percentage was .613.

Life after professional football

File:Dan Marino bronze statue2.jpg

A life-size bronze statue of Marino at Sun Life Stadium.

On Sunday, September 17, 2000, at halftime of the Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens game at Pro Player Stadium, Dan Marino’s jersey number of 13 was retired. The only other Dolphins jersey number retired at the time was Bob Griese's #12. Since then #39, Larry Csonka, has been retired as well. Marino joined the Dolphins Honor Roll the same day. In a year of accolades from the franchise he led for many years, the Dolphins also installed a life-size bronze statue of Marino at Pro Player Stadium (now Sun Life 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.

Marino was a first-ballot selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on August 7, 2005 and was introduced by his oldest son, Daniel. During his induction speech, Dan threw "one last pass" to former teammate Mark Clayton, who was sitting in the audience.

Marino is currently an analyst for CBS's Sunday pregame show The NFL Today. He was formerly a studio analyst on HBO's Inside the NFL.

Personal and family life

Marino lives with his wife, Claire, and their six children, Daniel Charles (born 4 September 1986), Michael Joseph (born 18 May 1988), Joseph Donald (born 26 July 1989), Alexandra Claire (born 13 May 1992), Lia (born 12 July 1995 in China) and Niki Lin (born 15 December 1996 in China) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He also has vacation homes in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Marino opened two restaurants in South Florida called Dan Marino's Town Tavern, with one location in Coral Springs and one on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. The name changed around 2005 to Dan Marino's Fine Food and Spirits. By 2006, both original locations had closed and the restaurant opened other locations in Miami, St. Petersburg, Las Vegas and Orlando. As of late 2010, the Miami and Las Vegas stores remain in service.

On April 27, 2008, Marino received an honorary doctorate degree in broadcast journalism from his Alma Mater, the University of Pittsburgh. Marino also delivered the Class of 2008 commencement speech. Marino is also a Laureus World Sports Academy founding member and is a voter for the Laureus World Sports Awards.

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. The foundation has distributed over $22 million to research, services and treatment programs serving children with neurodevelopment disabilities. The Dan Marino Center, which opened in 1995 along with the Miami Children's Hospital, is an integrated neurodevelopmental center specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of children at risk for developmental and psychological problems. The center saw more than 48,000 children last year alone.

Marino has teamed with other celebrities to raise awareness about autism spectrum disorders, including fellow NFL great Doug Flutie, whose son also has an autism diagnosis.

On November 7, 2005, the National Basketball Association's Miami Heat honored Marino's charitable work throughout South Florida with a halftime tribute, including a large donation to the Marino Foundation. Though a Heat jersey with his name and #13 was unveiled, this did not constitute retirement of his number by the Heat, and is currently worn by Heat guard/forward Mike Miller.

On March 23, 2010, The Dan Marino Foundation had their first Walk about Autism. Over 6000 walkers and over 420 Volunteer provided by the Miami Dolphins Special Teams, were on hand to make this event a special event. The money raised which Marino said he thought would be more than $500,000, will benefit the Autism Societies of Miami-Dade and Broward; the University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities; the Florida Atlantic University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities; and the Dan Marino Foundation.

NFL Career stats

Regular season

Year	Team	G	W	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	YPA	Long	Td	Int	Rate	RAtt	RYds	RAvg	RTd
1983	Miami	11	7	173	296	58.4	2210	7.5	85	20	6	96.0	28	45	1.6	2
1984	Miami	16	14	362	564	64.2	5,084	9.0	80	48	17	108.9	28	-7	-0.3	0
1985	Miami	16	12	336	567	59.3	4,137	7.3	73	30	21	84.1	26	-24	-0.9	0
1986	Miami	16	8	378	623	60.7	4,746	7.6	85	44	23	92.5	12	-3	-0.3	0
1987	Miami	12	7	263	444	59.2	3,245	7.3	59	26	13	89.2	12	-5	-0.4	1
1988	Miami	16	6	354	606	58.4	4,434	7.3	80	28	23	80.8	20	-17	-0.9	0
1989	Miami	16	8	308	550	56.0	3,997	7.3	78	24	22	76.9	14	-7	-0.5	2
1990	Miami	16	12	306	531	57.6	3,563	6.7	69	21	11	82.6	16	29	1.8	0
1991	Miami	16	8	318	549	57.9	3,970	7.2	54	25	13	85.8	27	32	1.2	1
1992	Miami	16	11	330	554	59.6	4,116	7.4	62	24	16	85.1	20	66	3.3	0
1993	Miami	5	4	91	150	60.7	1,218	8.1	80	8	3	95.9	9	-4	-0.4	1
1994	Miami	16	10	385	615	62.6	4,453	7.2	64	30	17	89.2	22	-6	-0.3	1
1995	Miami	14	9	309	482	64.1	3,668	7.6	67	24	15	90.8	11	14	1.3	0
1996	Miami	13	7	221	373	59.2	2,795	7.5	74	17	9	87.8	11	-3	-0.3	0
1997	Miami	16	9	319	548	58.2	3,780	6.9	55	16	11	80.7	18	-14	-0.8	0
1998	Miami	16	10	310	537	57.7	3,497	6.5	61	23	15	80.0	21	-3	-0.1	1
1999	Miami	11	5	204	369	55.3	2,448	6.6	62	12	17	67.4	6	-6	-1.0	0
Career		G	W	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	YPA	Long	TD	Int	Rate	RAtt	RYds	RAvg	RTds
17 Years		242	147	4,967	8,358	59.4	61,361	7.3	85	420	252	86.4	301	87	0.3	9

^† League Leader

• Named NFL Most Valuable Player (1984).
• Played in 242 games, starting 240 of them.
• Compiled a 147-93 regular-season record as a starter (147 wins rank third most all-time).
• First QB in NFL history to have six 4,000-yard seasons (1984–86, 1988, 1992, 1994).
• First QB in NFL history to pass for 5,000 or more yards in a single season (5,084 in 1984).
• Holds Dolphins team record for most seasons played (17).
• Won the AFC Offensive Player of the Week honor 18 times in the regular season (20 times overall, including playoffs).

Playoff stats

Year	Team	G	W	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	YPA	Td	Int	Rate	RAtt	RYds	RAvg	RTd
1983	Miami	1	0	15	25	60.0	193	7.5	2	2	77.6	0	0	0.0	0
1984	Miami	3	2	71	116	61.2	1001	8.6	8	5	94.1	1	0	0.0	0
1985	Miami	2	1	45	93	48.4	486	5.2	3	3	61.5	1	0	0.0	0
1990	Miami	2	1	42	79	53.2	544	6.9	5	2	85.6	5	-1	-0.2	1
1992	Miami	2	1	39	74	52.7	335	4.5	4	2	71.6	1	-2	-0.5	0
1994	Miami	2	1	46	67	68.7	519	7.7	5	0	116.5	2	4	2.0	0
1995	Miami	1	0	33	64	51.6	422	6.6	2	3	63.4	1	0	0.0	0
1997	Miami	1	0	17	43	39.5	141	3.3	0	2	29.3	1	2	2.0	0
1998	Miami	2	1	49	71	69.0	478	7.2	1	3	74.7	1	-1	-1.0	0
1999	Miami	2	1	28	55	50.9	291	7.4	2	2	63.5	2	-1	-0.5	0
Career		G	W	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	YPA	TD	Int	Rate	RAtt	RYds	RAvg	RTds
10 Years		18	8	385	687	56.0	4,510	6.6	32	24	77.1	15	1	0.07	1