SPECIAL ISSUE
March 2000

Football Happenings
(or, "So Long, Danny!")

Marino Retires With Super Bowl Dream Unfulfilled

Yes! After having to suffer thru, literally, half of my life (he's played 17 years, I've lived 34 years) watching this "Prick" have his way with my Jets, the man finally calls it quits. Thank God!

Here's an article about his retirement, followed by my own pictorial tribute:

DAVIE, Fla. (Reuters) - Dan Marino, the most prolific passer in NFL history, has ended his legendary 17-year career with the Miami Dolphins and his quest for a Super Bowl title.

 Marino officially announced his retirement at Monday morning news conference at the team's training facility.

 ``It was an extremely difficult decision but I know I made the right decision for me and my family,'' Marino said. ``I was fortunate to have played 17 years and I'm going to miss it.''

 Marino, 38, is the runaway all-time leader in attempts, completions, passing yardage and touchdown passes. His biography in the 1999 Dolphins media guide spans 47 pages. However, he never experienced the thrill of holding the Super Bowl trophy over his head, despite playing under coaches Don Shula and Jimmy Johnson.

 ``It was a dream of mine my whole career,'' Marino said of winning a Super Bowl. ``I'm not going to have that chance, but it doesn't take away from what I did personally.''

 Marino was composed throughout the news conference, although he appeared close to getting emotional when he thanked his wife and five children for their support.

 Marino was hampered most of last season by a nerve root injury that sapped the strength out of his bazooka-like throwing arm and forced him to miss five games. After rallying the Dolphins to a 20-17 win at Seattle in the wild-card round, Marino's career ended with an embarrassing 62-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional playoffs.

 ``After the season, I felt I wasn't going to play anymore because of the physical aspects of the game,'' Marino said. ''It was a health decision and a family decision.''

 Marino voided the last two years of his contract last month, saving the Dolphins $5.7 million in cap room in 2000 and making him a free agent.

 Despite his injury problems, Marino received a contract offer from the Minnesota Vikings, but he opted to retire as a member of the Dolphins.

 ``Denny Green (Vikings coach) called and he's a very persuasive guy. I considered it seriously,'' Marino said. ``But that (ending his career with the Dolphins) was a factor in my decision not to play anymore. To play 17 years with one team is very special and I'm very proud of it.''

 New Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said the door was open for Marino to return, but never fully endorsed him. After Marino voided his contract, the Dolphins signed free agent quarterback Jay Fiedler away from Jacksonville to compete with Damon Huard for the starting job.

 The last remaining quarterback from the famed Class of 1983, Marino departs with 4,967 completions in 8,358 attempts for 61,361 yards and 420 touchdowns -- all NFL records. He ranked second in wins with a record of 147-93, one behind fellow Class of '83 member John Elway (148-82-1).

 However, Marino did not ride off into the sunset with a storybook ending like Elway, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in his final two years with the Denver Broncos. Marino never got back to the Super Bowl after reaching the sport's biggest stage in his second season back in 1984. He would only make it to two more AFC championship games in 1985 and 1992.

 Shula, who has called Marino ``the best quarterback ever,'' was present at today's news conference.

 ``I don't believe that there is anyone who has made more of an impact on the NFL than Dan Marino in his 17-year career,'' Shula said. ``He has all the passing records and is one of the winningest quarterbacks in the history of the league, and those accomplishments are how players should be judged.''

 Despite Marino's records, he often played on Dolphins teams with porous defenses, weak running games, or both. He led Miami to Super Bowl XIX following the 1984 season, when he threw for 5,084 yards and 48 TD passes, records that still stand. But the Dolphins lost 38-16 to San Francisco.

 After years of postseason frustration, Marino and the Dolphins appeared to be headed back to the Super Bowl when Johnson took over as coach and general manager before the 1996 season. But salary cap problems and Johnson's desire to install a power running game created a rift between Marino and the coach.

 With his uncanny ability to read defenses and a lightning-quick release, Marino was a defensive coordinator's nightmare. He threw for no fewer than 3,245 yards and 21 TDs in each of his first nine full seasons, missing just four games in that span.

 But injuries finally caught up with Marino. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the fifth game of the 1993 season that severely limited his already poor mobility.

 After the nerve root injury sidelined him for five games last season, Marino returned on Thanksgiving and threw five interceptions in a shutout loss at Dallas. For the season, he completed 55 percent of his passes for 2,450 yards, 12 TDs and 17 interceptions, the first time in his career he threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

 The University of Pittsburgh product holds 25 NFL records and is fourth all-time in quarterback rating, trailing only Steve Young, Joe Montana and Brett Favre.

Here's how I chose to remember Danny Boy:

Good-Bye Dan!!
It's been great fun looking for pictures of you getting sacked every week.
Now it's on to the broadcasting booth,
where you can continue to annoy us for the rest of our lives.

Ralph

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