Miami Dolphins record setting quarterback Dan Marino turns 51 years old today.

Ten Notes On Dan Marino

1. Being a Pitt Panther fan I remember following Dan Marino’s career at Pitt well.  He had a great career at Pitt but his senior year was disappointing not only his performance but the teams. They were #1 ranked going into the season. The 1982 Pitt Panthers were loaded with talent, many went on to have outstanding NFL careers. The problem I think was a change in coaches. Jackie Sherrill had left Pitt after the 1981 season, heading to Texas A@M . He was replaced by Pitt Defensive coordinator Foge Fazio. Fazio was a great D-Coordinator but would not be successful as a head coach. They were 9-0 and ranked #1 but it was not an impressive 9-0. They were not playing well. They were just winning games. Then in November the roof caved in, they lost to Notre Dame and Penn State and then in the bowl game to SMU. Marino’s reputation took a hit. The NFL teams should have known better but his stock fell for the 83 draft.

2. The NFL 1983 Draft was the Year of the Quarterback. John Elway went as the #1 overall pick to the Baltimore Colts. Todd Blackledge went #7 to Kansas City, Buffalo with the #14 pick took Jim Kelly, #15 Tony Eason to New England, Ken O’Brien went #24 to the Jets and finally #27 to Miami-Marino. Marino went to the perfect team. The Dolphins had went to the Super Bowl but QB was a weakness. Marino would step right in at QB for them. My Steelers drafting with the #21 pick took Defensive lineman Gabe Rivera, who sadly was in a car accident in October 1983 and paralized for life. If I thought about it too much, what if the Steelers had taken Marino..I’d never sleep at nights. Terry Bradshaw’s career had just came to and end…replacing Bradshaw with Marino. Probably leaving his hometown of Pittsburgh, where he grew up and played his college football was in the long run a good thing for Marino.One of the reasons his stock fell in the 83 draft-there were drug abuse rumours about him. In Miami also he got to play for one of the all-time greatest coaches Don Shula.

3. Dan Marino was one of the few quarterbacks at that time who just stepped into the league and was outstanding from the get-go. Teams were more patient back then. Marino got his first start in week 7 of the 1983 season and never looked back. He had 2o touchdown passes vs 6 interceptions his rookie year.

4. Marino is one of the greatest players never to have won a World Championship. He would only play in one Super Bowl- in his second season. Miami lost to San Francisco. In all fairness it isn’t fair to judge Marino on that. The Dolphins failure to build a championship type team around him was the problem, it wasn’t Marino’s fault. I do think Marino isn’t usually mentioned up there with the Montana’s and Elway’s because he never won that Super Bowl. Fairly or unfairly that is how Quarterback’s are judged.

5. The Dolphins made the playoffs in ten of Marino’s seventeen seasons.

6. Dan Marino was a 9 time Pro Bowl selection. The NFL MVP in 1984. NFL.com named him the #25 greatest player in NFL history. In his career he threw 420 touchdown passes against 252 interceptions. He had a record of 147-93 record as a starting quarterback.

7. Dan Marino’s greatest season was his second in the NFL- 1984. He led the Dolphins to a 14-2 record. They made it to the Super Bowl. His stats were out of this world. 48 touchdown passes against 17 interceptions. He passed for 5084 yards. His QB rating was 108.9

8. To me them play that I remember most that he made was the famous “Clock Play” against the Jets in 1994. Marino lined up and faked that he was going to spike the ball to kill the clock, instead he threw a  game winning touchdown. {This always reminded me of the 1972 baseball World Series when the A’s fooled Reds catcher Johnny Bench. The count was 3 balls 2 strikes and they acted like they were going to intentionally walk him. The catcher set up like the ball would be outside to walk Bench then slipped back behind the plate, catching a napping Bench for strike 3}

9.Marino had a very fast release when throwing the ball. He wasn’t a scrambler. He was never all that mobile like a John Elway was. I know most rank Joe Montana ahead of Elway and Marino but I wonder how many Super Bowls Montana would have won if he had been in Miami or Denver instead of San Francisco. Elway and Marino played with a lot less talent around them. Not to take anything away from Montana, he was a great quarterback.

10. Dan Marino was a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2005. He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.