Dan Marino

• Born: September 15, 1961
• Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SPORT: Football

Early Life

Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. was born on September 15, 1961, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette truck driver Daniel Constantine Marino and his wife, Veronica Marino. He started his career as a quarterback in fourth grade at St. Regis Elementary School. A gifted, all-around athlete, he lettered in football and baseball at Central Catholic High School in Oakland, a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Though he was chosen by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the 1979 amateur baseball draft, the heavily recruited 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound athlete opted to pursue a football career at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Road to Excellence

Marino proved himself almost immediately. In the middle of his freshman year, he was installed by Pitt coach Jackie Sherrill as the Panthers’ starting quarterback; he responded by leading the team to an 11–1 record and a Fiesta Bowl win over Arizona State. Blessed with a strong arm and the capacity to throw long passes with pinpoint precision, he also guided the Panthers to 11–1 seasons and bowl victories in his sophomore and junior years. In his senior year, with expectations of a national championship and a Heisman Trophy, the Panthers “slumped” to 9–3. In spite of the disappointment, Marino graduated as a communications major and set records as Pitt’s all-time total offensive leader in passing yards, passes attempted, and touchdown passes. He was the number one choice of the Los Angeles Express in the inaugural draft of the United States Football League. However, he chose to sign with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), who had made him the team’s number-one choice in the quarterback-rich draft of 1983—a draft that also included future stars John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Ken O’Brien.

The Emerging Champion

In Marino’s first appearance with the Dolphins, a relief stint against the Los Angeles Raiders, he engineered touchdown drives on his first two possessions. As the Dolphins’ new quarterback, he took the Miami team to the playoffs, in the process earning the NFL’s Rookie of the Year award. He also became the first rookie quarterback named to start in the Pro Bowl.

In his second season of 1984–85, mentored by Miami head coach Don Shula, Marino turned in one of the finest campaigns ever by an NFL quarterback. Most impressive were his three then-NFL records: forty-eight passing touchdowns, 5,084 total passing yards, and 362 completions. He also led Miami to an appearance in Super Bowl XIX, where he completed twenty-nine of fifty passes for 318 yards and a touchdown in a hard-fought loss to the San Francisco 49ers. In just two seasons, he had established himself as one of the game’s premier passers, a member of an elite cadre that included Super Bowl adversary Joe Montana.

Working with an offense that Shula had designed to capitalize on Marino’s rifle arm and quick release, the Dolphins continued to be one of the powerhouses of the NFL’s Eastern Division. In 1985, Marino again topped the NFL in total passing yards (4,137), completions (336), and touchdowns (30) and again took Miami to the playoffs. In 1986, he once more set the pace for the NFL in total passing yardage (4,746), completions (378), and passing touchdowns (44). In a September game that season, he established a personal best with 6 touchdown passes against the New York Jets.

In 1987, 1988, and 1989, Marino continued his assaults on the Miami and NFL record books. Though his 1989 total of 3,997 passing yards just missed, giving him a fifth 4,000-yard season, he continued to demolish team benchmarks set by Bob Griese, Miami’s outstanding quarterback of the 1970s.

Continuing the Story

In 1990, Marino put the Dolphins back into the playoffs. Although Miami lost to the Buffalo Bills in the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship game, Marino's 3,363 passing yards made him only the eleventh quarterback in NFL history to have thrown for more than 30,000 yards, a plateau he reached faster than any previous quarterback. In 1991, he threw over 3,000 yards for the eighth time, establishing a new NFL record for 3,000-yard seasons.

In 1992, Marino had another banner year, throwing for more than 4,000 yards and again leading the Dolphins into the AFC title game. As in 1990, however, the Dolphins fell to quarterback Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills. Still, Marino won the Dolphins’ Most Valuable Player award for the tenth consecutive year. With 330 completions, he joined Dan Fouts and Fran Tarkenton as the only quarterbacks in NFL history up to that point to have completed 3,000 passes. He was also named the starting quarterback for the 1992 AFC Pro Bowl team, his seventh career Pro Bowl selection overall and his fifth as a starter.

After only ten NFL seasons, the gifted Miami quarterback had amassed 39,502 total yards passing. As the 1993 season unfolded, he moved past the 40,000-yard mark and, shortly thereafter, Johnny Unitas’s career record of 40,239 yards. Now, only Fouts at 43,040 and Tarkenton at 47,003 stood between Marino and yet another NFL record.

In 1993, Marino might have passed Fouts’s mark had it not been for a midseason injury to his Achilles tendon that kept him on the bench for the duration of the season. Though he had bounced back from five previous surgeries on his left knee, this was the first long-term, injury-caused absence for the durable quarterback. Marino’s durability at the hazardous quarterback position was a tribute both to Miami’s staunch offensive line and to his own rugged constitution, athleticism, and confidence.

Marino retired from pro football at the end of the 1999 season. In his last six seasons with the Dolphins, he continued to set records and be honored accordingly. He was selected two more times to the Pro Bowl, in 1994 and 1995. At the time of his retirement, he held the league’s records in touchdown passes (420), yards passing (61,361), pass attempts (8,358), and completions (4,967). During halftime of a Miami-Baltimore game on September 17, 2000, his number thirteen jersey was retired.

One of the brightest stars of the sports world, Marino has balanced the trials of celebrity with the joy of family: his wife Claire, his three sons, and his three daughters. His ongoing work for the community is centered on the Dan Marino Foundation, which works with various children's hospitals and charities to empower children and young adults on the autism spectrum. Marino and his wife were inspired to begin the charity based on their experience raising their son with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 1997, he embarked on a new major league sports venture, making his debut as a NASCAR Winston Cup team co-owner with race legend Bill Elliot. The Elliot-Marino Motorsports team began full-time competition in 1997. In 2000, Marino joined the executive management team of Dreams, Incorporated, as director of business development. He also became a host on HBO’s weekly football program Inside the NFL, a position he held until 2007. In 2003, he was hired by CBS, becoming a studio analyst for NFL Today. He was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. Upon the conclusion of his contract with CBS, the network chose to bring in new personalities for NFL Today, resulting in Marino's departure from the show early in 2014. By the summer of that year, however, he was given the opportunity to return to his old team, the Dolphins, this time in the capacity of special adviser. Three years later, as he had never actually completed paperwork regarding his retirement as a player with the Dolphins, he signed a one-day contract with the team before officially retiring. In 2019, he was one of the quarterbacks named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team. Despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, he continued to serve as an adviser for the team as its 2020–21 season still took place. As the 2020s progressed, Marino continued to make media appearances related to football, appearing on entertainment programs and in commercials. He appeared in a popular 2024 Superbowl commercial for M & M's candy with other celebrities. He also continued the work of his Foundation and regularly attended Miami Dolphins practices, helping to provide insights to young quarterbacks.

Summary

Dan Marino is one of the most recognizable and popular sports figures in the entire world. After seventeen consecutive seasons with the Miami Dolphins, he managed to rewrite the NFL record book by establishing twenty records. Although many of his records have been broken, Marino, a symbol of competitiveness and efficiency, has ensured himself a place in American sports and entertainment culture.

Bibliography

Crabbs, Kyle. "Dolphins Legend Dan Marino Named to NFL 100 All-Time Roster." Dolphin Wire, USA Today, 28 Dec. 2019, dolphinswire.usatoday.com/2019/12/28/dolphins-legend-dan-marino-named-to-nfl-100-all-time-roster/. Accessed 9 Apr. 2021.

Holmstrom, John. Dan Marino, Joe Montana. New York: Avon Books, 1985.

Keidel, Ken. Dan Marino: A Look Back at a Legend. Miami, Fla.: Dolphin/Curtis, 2000.

King, Peter. Greatest Quarterbacks. Des Moines, Iowa: Sports Illustrated Books, 1999.

Marino, Dan, and David Hyde. Dan Marino: My Life in Football. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2005.

Marino, Dan, Marc Serota, and Mark Vancil. Marino: On the Record. Chicago, Ill.: Rare Air Media, 1999.

“Mars Leaks M&M's Super Bowl Commercial for 2024.” Mars, Incorporated, 7 Feb. 2024, www.mars.com/news-and-stories/articles/mms-super-bowl-commercial-2024. Accessed 11 June 2024.

Miami Herald Publishing Company. Dan Marino: The Life, the Career, the Legend. Miami, Fla.: Author, 2005.

“Who We Are — Dan Marino Foundation.” Dan Marino Foundation, www.danmarinofoundation.org/who-we-are. Accessed 11 June 2024.