Dan Marino Wallpapers

Dan Marino Wallpapers

Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. He holds or has held almost every meaningful NFL passing record, and despite never being on a Super Bowl-winning team, is widely recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in football history.
Professional career

Being drafted by the defending AFC Champions placed Marino in an ideal situation, where the strong armed rookie could succeed immediately. After starting the season as a backup to incumbent starter David Woodley and seeing action twice off the bench to relieve an ineffective Woodley, Marino was given his first NFL start in Week 6 versus the Buffalo Bills. He posted a 96.0 passer rating that was a rookie record until broken by Ben Roethlisberger's 98.1 in 2004. He brought Miami the division title in 1983, and would also do so in 1984, 1985, 1992, and 1994. His Pro Bowl rookie year ended in disappointment, as the Dolphins were upset by the Seattle Seahawks in a rainy game full of Dolphin turnovers. Marino looked shaky in that game mostly due to a sprained knee he had suffered three weeks prior versus Houston, causing him to miss the last two regular season games. Those two games would be the last non-strike games he would miss until he tore his Achilles Tendon in 1993, a 145-game non-strike consecutive-game streak in all.

The following season would be Marino's best. He threw for 48 touchdown passes and 5,084 yards, both of which shattered previous records. Neither record would be touched until Peyton Manning topped the touchdown mark with 49 in 2004. He would go on to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award in 1984. The '84 Dolphins scored an NFL record 70 touchdowns and posted a 14-2 record. Marino had another 8 touchdown passes in the post-season, four of which came against his hometown Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.

In Super Bowl XIX Marino and the Dolphins met Joe Montana and the 49ers. The Dolphins, who had 74 rush attempts in the previous two weeks, called only 8 handoffs, placing their chances squarely on Marino. Marino was above average, completing 29 of 50 passes for 318 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, two of his passes were intercepted deep in 49ers territory and he committed the game's lone fumble. The 38-16 loss would be Marino's only Super Bowl appearance; as was the case for most of his career a sparse running attack and average defense would cost the Dolphins. A Pepsi commercial released in the wake of the game had Montana and Marino talking next to a vending machine. Joe bought a Pepsi each for himself and Dan, then Dan says "Next year... I'm buying."

After the Super Bowl loss, Marino's Dolphins went 12-4. On December 2, 1985 Marino completed 14 of 27 passes for 270 yards and triumphed over the 12-0 Chicago Bears in the highest rated Monday Night Football telecast in history. He also brought the Dolphins back to the AFC Championship game the following year, losing in Miami to New England in another game in which wet conditions made the Dolphins turnover prone. New England intercepted Marino twice and recovered 4 fumbles en route to a 31-14 win over the Dolphins, their first win in the Orange Bowl (Miami's home stadium at the time) since 1966, the Dolphins' first season of play.

With Marino at the helm, the Dolphins were a perennial playoff contender, reaching the post-season in 10 of Marino's 17 seasons. In 1992 he made his final appearance in an AFC Championship Game, losing against arch-rival Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills, 29-10. Kelly's Bills knocked Marino out of the playoffs three times between 1990 and 1995.

The following year, 1993, was a year that Miami was strongly favored at the start of the year to make it back to the AFC championship game and possibly the Super Bowl. However, disaster would strike Marino and the Dolphins in Cleveland after a swing pass, Marino, who was untouched on the play, crumpled to the ground in pain with a torn achilles tendon and was out for the season. Marino would say later "I felt like I'd been shot". Complicating matters was that in Marino's absence, backup quarterback Scott Mitchell had an impressive series of starts before suffering an injury of his own that season. The result was for the first time in a decade, Miami had a quarterback controversy in that there was debate in the media and among fans about whether to keep the younger Mitchell (who was a free agent after the season) or the proven veteran Marino, who it was feared wouldn't be the same after the injury.

In the end, Miami decided to continue to cast their lot with Marino. Mitchell signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions and as insurance, Miami signed Cleveland Browns QB Bernie Kosar as a backup in case something else happened. Wearing a special shoe and with a right calf that was visibly atrophied compared to before the injury, Marino was once again the starting QB at the start of the 1994 season.

In a season where Marino's viability was very much a question mark at the outset of the year, two of Marino's signature games would take place in 1994. The first would be Miami's first game that season, which was at home versus the New England Patriots and their upstart quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who drew more than a few comparisons to a young Marino. It had rained heavily that day, and the baseball infield used by the Florida Marlins (which was still there in spite of the ongoing MLB Labor Dispute at the time) had become muddy as a result. Despite the conditions, the two quarterbacks put up a combined 894 yards and 9 TDs through the air with Miami winning a 39-35 shootout. The other would be the comeback win on the road versus the New York Jets famous for Marino executing a fake spike for the winning touchdown, the details of which are mentioned below. Miami would go 10-6 that year, winning the division and defeating the Kansas City Chiefs at home before losing a heartbreaker to the San Diego Chargers the following week. For his 4000-plus passing yards that season, Marino was given the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award.

Marino would never go any further than the divisional round of the playoffs through the remainder of his career, which included the resignation of his longtime coach Shula and the arrival of Jimmy Johnson, whose ball-control philosophy had worked to the tune of two championships while with the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson attempted to de-emphasise Miami's passing game, but in his 4 seasons as coach of the Dolphins never found a running back, albeit trying several players at the position. Also during the Johnson era, Marino would find himself inactive due to injury more and more often, leaving it up to Kosar, Craig Erickson and Damon Huard to replace him.

While now more injury prone and less consistent than he had been at the peak of his abilities, at no other time was Marino's decline as evident as a Thanksgiving game in 1999 versus the Cowboys. In his first game back after missing a month due to injury, Marino threw 5 interceptions, which was a major factor in the Dolphins losing 20-0. The Dolphins would then proceed to lose 4 out of their next 5 games to finish the season at 9-7, backing into the playoffs, with Johnson and Marino increasingly clashing as the season wore on.

Marino's final win was his first playoff road win, and his 37th comeback win, as the Dolphins defeated the Seattle Seahawks in January 2000, the final football game played in the Kingdome. In the next round, also on the road, Marino and the Dolphins were demolished in a 62-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was an ignominious end to a spectacular career, as he was replaced on the field by backup Damon Huard by the second half. Former NFL running back Craig James, who had played for SMU in Marino's final collegiate game, would have a footnote role in his pro finale as well: He had picked the Dolphins to win that game on CBS' The NFL Today -- where he would one day be joined as a panelist by Marino -- and said, "This game went from 'upset special' to 'upset stomach!'"

Before the 2000 season, Marino decided to retire, after being ungraciously pushed out of Miami by new coach Dave Wannstedt, a protege of Jimmy Johnson (who had resigned after the loss to the Jaguars), and declining offers from Minnesota and his hometown of Pittsburgh.

During his professional career (1983-1999) in Miami, he was one of the most skilled and revered quarterbacks in the game. He was known for having the quickest release in the sport, throwing dead-on 'bullets', and completing the most miraculous passes; often between defenders. Also, despite the fact that he was not known for his scrambling ability (he averaged less than 1 yard per carry on his 301 career rushing attempts), Marino possessed an uncanny awareness in the pocket, often sliding a step or two to avoid the pass rush. He has the second most fourth quarter comebacks (37) in the history of the NFL, and second most victories (147, John Elway is first in both categories).

He was the 1994 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after having a Pro Bowl season when he returned from a season ending achilles tendon injury at Cleveland in 1993. He was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls (1983-87, 1991-92, 1994-95), seven times as a starter, but due to injuries he only played in two of the games (1984, 1992).

In 1999, he was ranked number 27 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Dolphins player.

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