Dan Marino: a true NFL football legend and quarterback for the ages

I was reading not long ago about NFL football records at various positions. I was kind of blown away by Dan Marino’s accomplishments. Even though I followed his career in the NFL, sometimes when you look back at things, you get a better feel for what they were than when they were actually happening. Dan Marino’s career as a pro football player was like that for me.

Let’s take a brief look at what Marino accomplished during his career in the National Football League. First he was the only player to throw for 60,000 yards in NFL history. When he finally retired from football after the 1999 season, he had or shared passing records in 23 different NFL categories. These included most touchdown passes, most 300 yard games, most 3000 yard seasons, and on and on.

Marino was also the first quarterback in pro football history to pass for 5000 yards in a season. He also broke the record at the time for most touchdown passes in a season in 1984. The only thing that he didn’t do was win a Super Bowl. But he shouldn’t be measured by that, he should be measured by all that he accomplished.

It’s amazing that the Dolphins were able to draft Marino at pick number 27 back in the 1983 draft. He was the sixth quarterback in a class that had excellent quarterbacks. But fortunate they were because Marino wasted no time in making the Pro Bowl and winning Rookie of the Year his first year in the league.

Dan Marino was just one of those special athletes and a special quarterback who had major impact on his sport. As a football player he was exciting to watch. As a quarterback you always felt like he could lead the Dolphins to victory, no matter the circumstances. And with the numbers that he put up, he set the bar for quarterbacks for generations to come.