Dan Marino Career Biography and Statistics

Bio:
For 16 seasons, Dan Marino was a passing machine who had a Houdini-like ability to avoid onrushing linemen. He was drafted in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins and played his entire career with the Fins. In his rookie year, he didn't start until Game 6, but quickly demonstrated that he was fastest gun in the league (in fact, his release is the quickest ever timed in the NFL), and became the first rookie QB to start in a Pro Bowl game.

In his second season, Marino had one of the greatest statistical seasons in NFL history, breaking six NFL season passing records, including most TD passes (48) in a season (since broken by Peyton Manning) and most passing yards (5,084) in a season. At the end of Miami's 14-2 regular season, Marino was named league MVP. He then led the Dolphins to the Super Bowl, although they bowed to Joe Montana's 49ers.

Marino's career burgeoned, and two years later brought the Dolphins to the AFC Championship game. With Marino in the pocket, the Dolphins were frequent playoff contenders, reaching the post-season in 10 of Marino's 17 seasons. In 1993, during a game with Cleveland, Marino crumpled to the ground with a torn Achilles tendon and missed the rest of the season. The next year, amid rumors that he was through, Marino passed for 4,435 yards and was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year.

Following some late-career ups and downs, Marino, his skills irremediably eroded, retired after the 1999 season.