About Dan Marino
Dan Marino was raised in a working-class area close to Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was born. After playing All-American high school football, it was a no-brainer for him to enroll at the University of Pittsburgh due to his strong, athletic upbringing and natural talent and prowess on the field.
For Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Marino rapidly established himself as an accomplished quarterback. He received Parade All-America recognition, and due to his exceptional passing skills, he ranked first among the greatest football programs in the nation. He was eventually selected by the Kansas City Royals in baseball, but after giving it some thought, he decided to enroll at the University of Pittsburgh, where he helped the Panthers to several significant victories and placed fourth in the Heisman vote his junior year.
In the middle of his rookie year, Pitt’s Marino took over as the team’s starting quarterback. He quickly became such a superb college quarterback that in his junior year, when he had thrown 37 touchdown passes, he was chosen as an All-American. The Miami Dolphins took Marino with the 27th overall pick in the 1983 draft, although he had a poor senior season that reduced his draft value.
Marino had a successful debut in the NFL, completing 19 of 29 passes for 322 yards while completing three touchdown touchdowns. On that Sunday, October 9, 1983, the Dolphins were defeated by the Buffalo Bills in overtime. In his first season as a professional, Marino would go on to pass for 2,210 yards and 20 touchdowns. As the first rookie to start as quarterback in the Pro Bowl, he was named “NFL Rookie of the Year”
Dan Marino, though, really made a name for himself in the NFL in 1984. He broke Bob Griese’s single-season touchdown pass team record in only eight games, and in just nine weeks, he broke Griese’s single-season passing yardage team record.
Marino had a fantastic season, setting single-season NFL records for completions (362), yards, and touchdown passes (48). (5,084). The Miami Dolphins were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers that season, which would have made it one of the best seasons ever if they had won the Super Bowl.
Marino broke yet another NFL record in November 1995. Fran Tarkenton’s record of 47,003 passing yards was surpassed by his lifetime total. Two weeks later, against the Indianapolis Colts, he surpassed Tarkenton’s record of 342 career touchdown passes.
By the time of his retirement, Marino was the first quarterback to surpass 60,000 throwing yards in a career. He was the only quarterback in the history of the game at the time to throw more than 400 touchdown passes. He also had the most pass attempts and completions.
