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Marino throws his final farewell
Legendary quarterback Dan Marino is regarded as the finest American football player never to win a Super Bowl
Dan Marino, the most prolific passer in the history of American football, has retired after 17 years as quarterback of the Miami Dolphins.
Marino factfile |
Career touchdowns: 420
Highest number in a single season: 48
Career yards: 61,361
Highest number in a single season: 5,084
Super Bowl wins: 0
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"I can say I have been blessed with a career greater than I could imagine," Marino told a packed news conference in the team meeting room at the Dolphins' training facility.
"Most of all I am going to miss Sunday afternoons."
His retirement was widely expected and the Dolphins spent two days co-ordinating his announcement, expected to be one of the biggest media circuses in National Football League history.
Marino, 38, departs having broken or equalled most of the passing records in the NFL, although he is widely considered the greatest quarterback never to win a championship.
During his career, he completed 4,967 passes for 61,361 yards and made 420 touchdowns, all NFL
records.
In 1984, his second season, Marino passed the ball 5,084 and threw 48 touchdowns, both still league records.
That was the only year Marino made it to the NFL's showpiece season finale, the Super Bowl.
It ended in a disappointing 38-16 loss to San Francisco.
And although his name dominates the record books, Marino never achieved the greatest feat in the NFL, a Super Bowl winner's ring.
He had hoped to retire as reigning Super Bowl champion, as did another quarterback legend John Elway, but it was not to be.
The Dolphins' 62-7 play-off loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars was the most one-sided defeat in franchise history.
Miami's coach Jimmy Johnson quit in the immediate aftermath of the defeat and when his replacement Dave Wannstedt refused to confirm his desire to keep Marino, the 38-year-old knew his days were numbered.
An offer to join the Minnesota Vikings followed but Marino opted to retire rather than sign up with a rival to the club with which he spent his entire playing career.
Injuries had taken their toll in recent seasons, and Marino's play declined sharply in 1999.
He threw 12 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions, by far the worst ratio of his career, and his quarterback rating of 67.4 ranked 30th in the league.
"Just because you didn't win a Super Bowl doesn't mean that you are not a champion, because we all know it otherwise," said Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga.
"To put it simply, Danny, nobody did it better than you. You are the greatest quarterback ever."
Huizenga said the Dolphins will honour Marino by no longer assigning the No 13 shirt he made famous and naming a street for him outside Pro Player Stadium, the Dolphins' home field.
"Most of all I am going to miss Sunday afternoons."
His retirement was widely expected and the Dolphins spent two days co-ordinating his announcement, expected to be one of the biggest media circuses in National Football League history.
Marino, 38, departs having broken or equalled most of the passing records in the NFL, although he is widely considered the greatest quarterback never to win a championship.
 Marino had the nerve to delay his pass longer than any other quarter-back....
|
In 1984, his second season, Marino passed the ball 5,084 and threw 48 touchdowns, both still league records.
That was the only year Marino made it to the NFL's showpiece season finale, the Super Bowl.
It ended in a disappointing 38-16 loss to San Francisco.
And although his name dominates the record books, Marino never achieved the greatest feat in the NFL, a Super Bowl winner's ring.
He had hoped to retire as reigning Super Bowl champion, as did another quarterback legend John Elway, but it was not to be.
 ...But only because he was prepared to take the hits
|
Miami's coach Jimmy Johnson quit in the immediate aftermath of the defeat and when his replacement Dave Wannstedt refused to confirm his desire to keep Marino, the 38-year-old knew his days were numbered.
An offer to join the Minnesota Vikings followed but Marino opted to retire rather than sign up with a rival to the club with which he spent his entire playing career.
Injuries had taken their toll in recent seasons, and Marino's play declined sharply in 1999.
 Marino and Johnson clashed many times in the coach's four-year tenure
|
"Just because you didn't win a Super Bowl doesn't mean that you are not a champion, because we all know it otherwise," said Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga.
"To put it simply, Danny, nobody did it better than you. You are the greatest quarterback ever."
Huizenga said the Dolphins will honour Marino by no longer assigning the No 13 shirt he made famous and naming a street for him outside Pro Player Stadium, the Dolphins' home field.
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