Passing into History

laid off foot drop broke for the there's totally every time I see duper Clayton yeah they say they made you yeah you hear that a lot yep every time not always you know but we all were on the the same wood second the third string together yes so we built chemistry with each other we should stay after practice so even when we wasn't playing before we was playing we should stay over after practice and just work on some things that just in case if we did get in the game we all kind of made each other they grew up ten years together I think we player 11 years together you know knowing you could have those guys you know outside be able to throw the ball to was it's pretty special but you know in the long run you know they could have been playing somewhere else and no one ever heard of them so I'll take credit for for making those guys what about them they're always just seem to be a synergy between the three of you understood what you wanted to do they love to compete they love to you know be the best they could be and then they had talent you know when you have that combination you know you're gonna be successful and it was the one thing though about do but I always bothered me it was he never died for the football I say if they had water that on that and I was about to take that dump in the pool that's when you died not on the football field I just ran under the football but here tell him that this is what he really told I mean this is God you wanna fabricate nothing he said listen here Danny and I throw it in the end zone it was you know a little big stretch he would have caught it he didn't do it and I'm like man I started yelling and he should've dove for the ball he said you know poises damn listen they don't pay me to dive for the ball they pay you to put it on the money you're making all the money hit me in the chest I was like okay do my mistake that what do you think the lasting impact of that season was how what Dan did changed the NFL had changed the way coaches approached offense just the lasting impact it had done I think everybody realized that if you have a great talent at the quarterback position it means so much as to opening the game up you know before that the three yards and a cloud of dust and the ball control in the time of possession was the key to winning now with Dan and his great ability to put points up on the board and people began to see how important that was and started to look for that kind of a quarterback he was ahead of his time head of his time he really turned things around as far as offensive thinking was concerned what you had kind of you know thought of in your mind before you met him what was different like you know I didn't really have any expectations coming in other than you know when I he was up front with me right off the bat he was demanding you know and I figured that's that's the way to head coach is supposed to be and and that he was always someone that was willing to listen to your ideas he didn't always like your ideas but you know he would listen to him and he was a very good communicator how many were going wedge on the ball on offense defense all day long I beat him every throw he changed the way you coach didn't he no doubt about it you know I was a ball control time of possession coach I always believed that you know if we had them all 40 minutes and they had it 20 minutes then that was a lot of good things our defense was resting our offense was controlling the ball and hopefully at the end of the drive would put points on the board you wanted to let him go give him given the freedom to be Dan did you we realized pretty early that the Dan was a guy that you know loved the throw the football and throw better than anybody else and we wanted to make sure that we gave that opportunity we didn't like running the ball and that's why we like the bag because he was still changing the play and we still with Brian standing like running the ball right and if you handed it off and it didn't work he would glare at me on the sideline you know why do we run that play let's throw the ball you want to make sure that he called a lot of his own place I I felt that by the coach calling the play is that he was just gonna you know assume that the play was going to come into him and I wanted him to you know just work hard in the practices and in the meetings to have all of the knowledge that you need to call your own plays did coach you ever ever have ever questioned you about changing play calls that he may have sent in into something else you know what it was always great the olders times it was great it was world I still worked yeah you know but I always used to tell him it I changed the line of scrimmage and sometimes I change it in a huddle I'm not sure if he knew that he would liked it that much but listen coach Shula was always you know so uh I guess is innovative in a way and just understood that let players make plays and and if you feel comfortable with it you know you do it you need to do but he also you know had quarterbacks before I came in like Johnny Unitas the problem pretty much called his all his own plays and greasy and in don struggles here was callin all zone plays and he was with us you know that year and helping us from the sideline who was he was kind of like my coach too so you know that's the one thing that was great about coach Shula just let you do your thing now talk about the personal relationship you develop with with then especially during that 84 season his second year it was just a relationship that you you really it grew and grew because of his tremendous he was a competitor so the expectations are to be is you know to be the champions to go through Super Bowl win and I think that was expectations everybody on the team and it's it's always been that way here the league had never seen anything like that before and and we've put on a show for the whole season it was exciting there was never a play there was never a situation that came up that you didn't think you know what they can they can they can they can score from here when you came right out of the chute ready to play five touchdowns that first game was remark you know the first game was interesting because of like again the personnel we had we used Jim Jensen that game kind of for the first time as a as a move tight end and and then you have duper Clayton the style of defense that they were playing at that time was pretty much heads-up man-to-man and you know I don't care who you are and you could be a Hall of Famer and you could be you know playing those two guys you know man-to-man bump and run or off they're they're gonna beat and our style of play then was you know we had a lot of big plays and we were winning games you know throwing the football every week had got better because we were making plays that you know people hadn't seen before we just felt like nobody could stop us they hadn't seen that quick release and they had the seen duper and Clayton two little guys going up in the air and catching a football in a crowd and moving the ball down the field and you know putting a lot of points on the board you win for Game five Game six seven eight nine you get to you get to 11 and Oh at that point I don't recall a lot of you know now a team wins eight nine games they start talking about the 72 I don't recall that kind of hoopla around our our 11 or no start that year yeah I don't recall that either I mean that's you know it's interesting because I guess we could add a shot I mean we end up losing to San Diego in LA I think it was to two weeks in a row right we lost two in a row but I don't recall that and and probably should have been talked about that because the coach tool in a 72 team but yeah that wasn't wasn't a big deal in you run up against the San Diego Chargers what do you remember about that game that first lost baby food well remember a lot about any losses you know they had a pretty good quarterback in that game too that knew how to put points on the board and really became a shootout I feel like we should have won that game even though it was like you said it wasn't shoot down right it was a shootout with Dan Fouts and and the fact that I felt like you know one of those games you know you get into and and that in their offense was dynamic too you know so it's it's one of those deals that you feel like you had the you know score every time you had the ball and and and they had it last I still remember I mean like how shoes just kinda like Tori's it's like you know like we did something that was like how can you guys do this you know you learn from those mistakes that you've made and you hope that you don't make them again as you move forward you get to the playoffs first you play Seattle that's a team that it knocked you out the year before yeah anytime you get knocked out of the playoffs you know you you want to have the opportunity to get back when we got knocked out against Seattle we felt like that we owed them from the year before all my thoughts was he's not gonna let Seattle Peters we gonna beat Seattle and we gonna make it we're gonna advance to the next level and that's exactly what we did for an AFC champion game with the chance to go to a Super Bowl your first time what were your nerves like going into that football game in particular I felt really good about our game plan and the things that we you know had installed that week and watching films and seeing how they play defense and what their scheme was we matched up really well that was the Marino an uber showed that game right there and man they were unbelievable I mean really they was food you threw for 421 yards four touchdowns but the time championship game record so so nerve didn't bother you very much element well when you have the guys we hadn't thrown the ball an offensive line like we had you know we don't get too nervous I know that we were one step away from the Super Bowl the playoffs it was easy for us I mean we we just dominated everybody in the playoff that year Marino sets his ballclub from the Steeler 40 he drops quickly to throw looks right across them Italy got clean open damn fine puts down a diver going to a game law all the height for your first Super Bowl it just had to be great expectations for you you know I look back on it now and I think it's I felt like we were supposed to be there you know and maybe because of that reasons you know we didn't win I mean I felt like I we expected that we were gonna win my second year I'm in the big game Wow I'm gonna play in a bunch of more Super Bowl there were some guys that thought you know we're gonna be back here over and over and over and they didn't realize yet this may be your only shot we ran into a team that was already know I'm good yeah and they were good for a long time and you know we got a lot of the fanfare that year because we were breaking the records and all that but they had they end up having a number one defense in league and you know points allowed and all that and then and get run into Joe Montana and Roger Craig and that grouping and it was it was they had experienced a Super Bowl - they had already won one so it was one of those games that I wished we had played the next day you've said arms and you know you thought jeez my rook my second year I get to a Super Bowl well you know if we're gonna games man I'm gonna be here fine of towners on again there's no doubt I felt that after the game and that's why he can't take that came for granted but at least you know I got the privilege to play in the game because everybody the plays in the NFL doesn't get an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl obviously that had to be your lowest point of that of the season yeah because that was you know that's what you're playing for and that's what you know I mean we we broke all the records and fourteen and two and I laugh but it's about winning the championship and we didn't it was a really big disappointment equipped with me when we went to the Super Bowl and you let the father noun the year that we had after that game I was very disappointed because that season I wasn't used to losing we lost the big one and that's the one thing I mean my career I mean every I felt what it was like to be a quarterback in the league and do all the things you need to do except you know on the last game of the year to walk off and to win that game and you know that's I mean I mean that's the only thing that I look back on it kind of you know it hurts sometimes that we didn't do that that group didn't do it in anybody with a pure football talent every time I talked about Dan Marino I talked about him being the best pure passer that's ever played the game nobody has ever done it better he has that quick release he has a ball up here and boom it's it's like an explosion I always felt he's from the time I was younger I mean I could throw it as good as anybody and felt like I compete thrown compete that way as far as a quarterback is concerned you know on every level and especially when I got to the pros when his mind said this is where I want to go the the time it took for him to get that thought through his brain and then turn it into not only a pass for the pass with accuracy and velocity and that ball goes right by the defensive back here and I catch it and you know that's kind of hard to do you got to have a strong arm to do that he had that reckless gunslinger kind of attitude and it showed I heard Mark Clayton tell me something once about Dan he said Moreno told me that he could complete a pass in a hurricane said well he said he could throw it through a hurricane and you know I've never seen him playing a hurricane but uh I wouldn't doubt it I could hear dad saying that yeah he'd actually bruised the receiver his hands in practice wouldn't he throw a net so high you know he had that tight spiral and he had the tremendous velocity on the ball he didn't throw it like that it was boom it was a line drive throw and I remember staying on the sidelines and I saw you throw the ball to touchdown and I looked over the guy next to me and he everyone's a nice size one did you just see what I just saw I think at that point we all knew we had something special thanks Bo you know it's my style throwing the football I think was the to try to throw by people sometimes not necessarily always you know throw the ball with an arc we were great and then and you know people can make their mouth say anything but numbers never lie 5,000 yards 48 touchdown passes nobody had come close to them and you look at the numbers that he put up that year does that really put in perspective just how spectacular he was yeah I'll tell you judge you know what a quarterback is or what he can do is his accomplishments when you stepped away from that season and looked at the win the dusk ler and you look back at any point you just say wow then we said Wow but then afterwards you know the season and even like you look I mean do Clayton broke the you know broke the touchdown reception record that year that's 18 touchdown receptions in a season he is the all-time record holder doing it but at the same time we didn't kind of know we were doing it you know it was like one of those things were out to win each weekend and and it just it came about we wasn't playing to break the records it just happened and I think that that's the way did you know that you should play the game how did you life changed during that whole yeah well I think a couple things one is you know we as a group we all became more popular and you know after that Super Bowl and we ended up doing commercials I did a commercial Montana and got into you know a lot of the the endorsements side of it changed and you know and also after the season I you know Claire and I with we're still married and been married a long time and and we decided to get married after after after the season so from that respect that changed in a big way you know so but it was it still was football you know it was football is about playing the game and winning and loving what you do and the the biggest change I guess was the fact I was gonna get married and that you know after the season there was more endorsements and more popularity I think not only for me but for the other guys didn't first first two years and I think Lau was in his 14th or 15th year playing free safety you know and just he was always a prankster I learned a lot from him him and just talking to him about you know what it takes to be a real pro it was really a lot of fun to watch them light up light up the scoreboard and I think for us as defensive players I think it made me a better football player because when you practice against Danny every day you better be on your game because he could fit it in there in just about any situation but we had some ballet against William Jetson Dom back Nia Roberts so well Paul Langford I mean those guys I'm not missing a couple of them but I mean those guys made us work hard they pulled all the weight that season for us our defense struggled and had some big adjustments to make and it's almost like they were crossing each other you know the offense was coming up and the defense was heading down and that was really tough that Orange Bowl atmosphere was special I mean and you know you played in the orange builders so long I played in many games there and it seems like they were just so close it was like their party was like you're playing in the neighborhood game I mean you could feel the fans it was so close and that and that old bill it used to rattle you you can't replace that and the fans you know I always say that they own the team you know it's this Miami Dolphins is really meant nothing against the owners have been the owners for all years it's but it's art you know it's it's the communities franchise really and they've always been terrific to me what was it like to go back to your hometown the first time as a dolphin it was it was awesome you know really to to grow up a Steeler fan and be able to go back into Three Rivers Stadium then and to be the quarterback for the Dolphins and play and start against the team that then I loved growing up watching all suitable teams and just playing in front of family went over to row house there in Pittsburgh and sat out and ate the best Italian food ever and you realize that Danny was just a regular guy he came from a really strong middle-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh when he was just one of the people one of the guys or his dad knew a lot about throwing a football I think he taught him a lot I know how special your dad was to you yep he just had to be the proudest man on the face of the earth when you when you walked in that field 3 verse 81 I'm sure he was and but I was probably prouder to be able to play that day and him be in the stands and all the sacrifices that him and my mother made for me to be in that situation you know I love coach Shula I love Jackie Sheryl was my college coach but he was the best coach ever had I wouldn't change nothing in the world I brought my career ten years with that ten years with these group of guys and that's a blessing you know I'm gonna always have fine memories of you know the partnerships we had with our teammates and our coaches we went to the to the big show and it was fun and and I don't think how I regret that but I think it's just that group and the fact the success that we had that year and it would have been better like said we don't won the Super Bowl but he could pointed a lot of things and if you think about it that that group the big plays the way the style we played kind of really changed you know what how it's how footballs being played today you know when you think about South Florida and the things that we accomplished down here and the fans getting to watch Dan in his entire career me having the opportunity to coach Stan just a lot of great memories you

Channel: The Dolphins Endzone

Views: 16,005

Keywords: Miami Dolphins (Professional Sports Team), Dan Marino (American Football Player), Don Shula (American Football Player), National Football League (Sports Association)

Id: SPHghke9RpI

Length: 21min 29sec (1289 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 03 2015