Dan Marino Retirement (1999)

Lore & Background

Best remembered for his quick release and powerful arm, Marino helped the Dolphins become consistent postseason contenders, leading them to the playoffs ten times and one Super Bowl appearance in XIX, although a title victory ultimately eluded him during his career. Marino is considered by many to be one of the greatest players to never win a Super Bowl and has the most career victories of quarterbacks not to win a title at 155. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, eight-time first (3) or second (5) team All-Pro, and All-AFC six times, Marino was voted NFL Rookie of the Year by Sporting News.

The following season in 1984, Marino was the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Offensive Player of the Year, when he set single-season records of 5,084 passing yards, 48 touchdown passes, nine 300-yard passing games, and four 400-yard passing games. He was voted the 1994 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and the 1998 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year. Marino threw the most TD passes of the entire decade of the 1980's (220) despite only playing in 7 seasons of the decade (1983–89); and threw for the most passing yards in the entire decade of the 1990's (33,508).

Marino is the only QB in NFL History to lead in either category in back-to-back decades. He is also the only QB in NFL History to lead the league in all three passing categories of completions, passing yards, and touchdown passes for three consecutive years (1984-1986). At the time of his retirement, Marino held more than 40 NFL single-season and career passing records (many of which have since been surpassed), including career passing attempts (8,358), completions (4,967), passing yards (61,361), and touchdown passes (420).

His career passer rating of 86.4 was the fourth-highest in NFL history (fifth when including stats from the AAFC). Marino was the first quarterback in NFL history to reach 5,000 yards passing in a season (1984); 50,000 career passing yards, and also the first quarterback to reach 40-plus touchdown passes in a season (48 in 1984), and 400 career touchdown passes.

Reader's Guide

Marino was enshrined into the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll immediately after his retirement in 2000, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in his first year of eligibility, and is currently one of only three former Miami Dolphins to have his jersey number retired. In 2019, Marino was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team as one of the 10 greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, as determined by a panel of coaches and media members.