How Good Was Dan Marino Actually?

Dan Marino was one of the most talented quarterbacks never to win a Super Bowl but how good was he really in today's video we're revisiting the career of one of the greats dating all the way back to his Youth and covering his lengthy career with the Miami Dolphins Daniel Constantine Marino Jr was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to his polish mother Veronica and his Italian father Daniel Marino his father would deliver newspapers and then come home and teach his son how to throw a football the pair would throw to one another in the living room of their family home before dinner and it was his dad who taught him to throw the football with a quick release and a flick of the wrist something that became an integral part of The Talented quarterback's game by the time he made it to high school Marino was a talented athlete both on the football field and in baseball he played both at Central Catholic High School and by the time he became a senior he was managing a sensational 500 batting average in his Young baseball career in fact Marino was so talented with baseball both as a pitcher and a shortstop that he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the 1979 MLB draft straight out of high school while he liked the idea of a career in professional sport he believed he was better at football and wanted to get his education before he considered leaving school to play when he found out he couldn't do both he had to let his career in baseball go he had been a parade All-American in his high school football days and the pit Panthers were recruiting him to play for them in college for Marino pit was perfect there was a real lur for him in playing for his hometown team and he dedicated himself to the Panthers in 1979 The Talented quarterback's decision meant choosing the University of Pittsburgh over schools like Clemson UCLA and Michigan State but that was his path and it worked out pretty well for him he had to be patient as a freshman but when the starter Rick trocano went down injured in the Panthers seventh game of the season it was Moreno's time to step up that year he set a freshman record with 1,680 passing yards and impressed on the road claiming wins against strong programs in both West Virginia and Penn State playing away from home the Young quarterback was unfazed by the atmosphere and in the Fiesta Bowl that year he helped pit overcome Arizona with a 16 to10 Victory Marino's performance as a freshman earned him the starting job in 1980 his sophomore year of college he was throwing the football at a high clip with some of the most impressive numbers in the country until he got hurt Midway through the season a knee injury cut a season short but he'd still thrown 14 touchdowns before being sidelined when he came back in 1981 he made it obvious that he was a highlevel starter who looked destined for the NFL Marino set school records with 2,876 passing yards and 37 passing touchdowns while leading pit to an 11 in1 season he set the program's single game touchdown record when he threw six against South Carolina and in the 1982 Sugar Bowl it was Marino's heroics in the dying seconds that led to a come from behind victory over the Georgia Bulldogs he connected with his tight end in the nzone with barely 30 seconds on the clock making the score 2420 to the Panthers by this point Marino was attracting national attention 1981 was his major breakout year and what he was doing with his arm was far from common at the time the win Over Georgia only furthered his reputation and NFL teams were focused on his every move when he graduated Marino was Pit's record holder for total passing yards single season pass passing yards total passing touchdowns single season touchdowns and single game touchdowns and the Panthers went 42 and six during his time with the team in the buildup to the 1983 NFL draft rumors started to swirl about Marino murmurs about Dan Marino potentially using recreational drugs made waves around the league and eventually made their way into the media according to those rumors Marino was a bit of a party guy and NFL teams weren't sure about drafting him as a result the Pittsburgh Steelers who of course had kept close tapson Marino as the local quarterback making headlines eventually admitted in 1992 that they passed on the pit QB because of those rumors specifically amidst all this chaos the Miami Dolphins who had just lost in the Super Bowl against the Redskins after another great year under Don schula David Woodley had been the quarterback that season but he wasn't playing at an elite level and part of the reason for Miami struggles in the Super Bowl was the stagnant offense struggling to move the football the Dolphins couldn't quite believe their luck they drafted Dan Marino with the 27th pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft this was a team that had just been to the Super Bowl and drafted a very very talented wide receiver in Mark duper just one year earlier the offense now looked much improved and it wouldn't take long for Marino to take over as the starting quarterback by week five Woodley had continued to struggle and he was pulled out of the game in favor of the 6'4 rookie out of pit Marino got his first start just one week later against the Buffalo Bills and while they lost in a tight game with the Rival it was just the beginning of a very bright future at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins following the Bills game Marino went 9-1 the rest of the way in his rookie season that year Dan Marino set multiple rookie records he posted a 96 passer rating had the lowest interception percentage in the league was the only rookie quarterback to lead the conference in passing yards and had the highest rookie completion percentage the Dolphins looked great and a 12-4 finish drove them back into the playoffs Dan Marino was named a pro bowler in his rookie season and a second Team all pro he looked the real deal and his Gunslinger approach to the game was torching defenses the following year things got even better Marino was in his sophomore season and the Dolphins once again drafted a talented wide receiver in Mark Clayton who would go on to become one of Marino's favorite Targets in the NFL so in 1984 with Mark duper and Mark Clayton as two of Marino's primary targets the Dolphins got back to work and that year they blew by almost everybody in fact Dan Marino's 1984 season was one of the best quarterbacking seasons in NFL history keep in mind that in 1984 throwing for 4,000 yards plus was not all that common Miami went 14 and2 that year and then blew the Seattle Seahawks away in the divisional round of the playoffs securing a 31 to10 win against the team that had eliminated them the year before they follow L up with a 45-point performance against the Steelers in the AFC Championship game and Dan Marino was headed to the Super Bowl in just his second season as a pro that game against the Steelers is one of the fondest of Dan Marino's career that was his hometown team and he threw for 421 yards and four touchdowns to send the Dolphins into the Super Bowl at the age of just 23 that year Marino won all of the awards he was the NFL MVP a first team All Pro the NFL offensive player of the year a pro bowler and led the NFL in passing yards touchdowns and passer rating he was Untouchable and winning the Super Bowl would have crowned That season as one of the very best in both Miami Dolphins and NFL history unfortunately it wasn't to be Marino met Joe Montana in the San Francisco 49ers who boasted one of the most troubling defenses in football the defense was led by Hall of Fame safety of Ronnie lot and the secondary did a stellar job of taking Marino's primary options away and forcing throws he didn't want to make the result was a two interception game in one in which Joe Montana threw three touchdowns on the other side of the ball Mar did manage 318 passing yards and a touchdown of his own but Miami fell short and the Niners claimed the Super Bowl with a 38-6 victory in 1985 Marino was once again the NFL passing yards leader and led the NFL in passing touchdowns for the second season in a row he was a first team All Pro again approval for the third straight year and the best quarterback in the league once again Marino and the Dolphins flew back to the AFC Championship game after another great year as a franchise they went 12-4 beat the Browns in the divisional round and came up against the New England Patriots in the championship game this time they struggled and the Patriots eliminated them on the way to a Super Bowl appearance the late ' 80s brought turbulence for the Miami Dolphins and even Dan Marino himself struggled for a couple of years he threw 44 touchdowns in 1986 and once again earned First Team all pro honors but the Dolphins struggled defensively and ended up missing the Playoffs entirely it would then take them Four Seasons to make it back not appearing in a playoff game again until the 1990 season when roster moves and adjustments LED Miami to another 12-4 season they beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild guard round but lost to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round finally in 1992 Miami and Lieutenant Dan made it back to the AFC Championship Game Don schul and his quarterback had been battling to find a way back and a chance to play in another Super Bowl and this felt like it could be their opportunity to win at all they'd gone 11 and5 in the regular season and shut out the San Diego Chargers in the divisional round with a 31 to Zer win Dolphins fans were hopeful and Miami would take another shot at beating the bills in the AFC Championship Game buffalo's defense overwhelmed the dolphins that day they forced two interceptions out of Marino recovered three fumbles managed four sacks and stuffed Miami's Run game all day the Dolphins had just 33 rushing yards and Marino didn't have time to throw the football the way he wanted to Miami crashed out of the championship game again and that would be the last time Marino played in the conference final with a shot to make the Super Bowl in a way it's devastating that Dan Marino was aable to win a Super Bowl he was blissfully unaware that his Super Bowl appearance in 1984 at the age of 23 would be the only shot he had at winning it all on the big stage it's reasonably the biggest regret of his career but what Marino was able to do in an era of football that didn't have nearly as many rules to protect quarterbacks was set a remarkable amount of records and play football in the NFL in a way that no quarterback had ever managed before him fans often debate that Dan Marino would throw for 5,000 yards and 45 touchdowns every season with the skill set he had in the modern-day NFL yes we' throw for 6,000 yard as of today in the summer of 2023 Dan Mareno still holds records for the most seasons leading the NFL in passing attempts which he did five times and the most seasons leading the league in passing completions which he managed six times he was the fastest quarterback to 200 touchdowns in NFL history managing that feat in just 89 games another of his records that still stands today many of the legendary quarterback's records have now been broken over the years his 1984 single season passing record was eventually broken by Drew Breeze in 2011 and his fourth quarter career comeback wins were taken over by Payton Manning in 2012 Marino's 61,62 career passing yards is good for eighth in the record books and has only been surpassed by quarterback who played in a modern era that protects the position a lot better than it used to by the time he retired Dan Marino had been the league MVP a three-time first team All Pro and a three-time second Team all pro as well as going to nine Pro bowls winning offensive player of the year comeback Player of the Year leading the NFL in passing yards five times passing touchdowns three times and breaking just about every record possible for an NFL quarterback Dan Marino changed the game and there had never been anybody like him before he took over as the Miami Dolphin starting quarterback he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of Eligibility and has had his number 13 retired by the Miami Dolphins organization he remains close to the dolphins having been a special adviser to the franchise since 2014 and while he never won a Super Bowl Dolphins fans enjoyed some of the greatest years of fandom watching and play one of the all-time greats D Marino's place in Canton Ohio will always be celebrated a career capped by individual Brilliance that was only missing the crown jewel of a Super Bowl ring though Marino was not able to win a Super Bowl don't let that stop you from subscribing to our Channel we have a lot more content about the NFL's most legendary OG players on the way thank you for watching the halftime [Music] show

Channel: The Halftime Show

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Keywords: miami dolphins, dan marino, dan marino highlights, dan marino story, dolphins highlights, dan marino dolphins

Id: JCaWsO1MZd4

Length: 10min 39sec (639 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 21 2023