Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. Here's what left him empty-handed.

- Dan Marino is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. His teammates envied his near-perfect technique, a combination of precision and quick, clean release, which he used to fire lasers into tight cover at almost any distance. Simply put, he was a generational talent. At the end of his first full regular season with the Miami Dolphins, Marino broke major NFL QB records. For years, he held single-season records for passing yards, completions and touchdowns. Records that stood until other Hall of Famers came along to break them. Marino's 17-season career in Miami made him a nine-time Pro Bowler, NFL MVP and first-time Hall of Famer in 2005.

But when he retired in 2000, he

left

with just one Championship win. of the AFC and no victory in the Super Bowl. In fact, he is the winningest quarterback to ever hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Why is that? How did such an explosive talent like Dan Marino end up without a title? (soft music) In 1983, Dan Marino was devastated to see five other quarterbacks selected before him in the first round of the NFL Draft. Marino was a star quarterback for the Pitt Panthers and played particularly well in his sophomore and junior seasons. But during his senior year, his numbers dipped and the Panthers ended that season with a demoralizing loss in the Cotton Bowl.

Plus, the headhunters reportedly weren't too keen on his campus parties, narcs. Regardless, Marino was selected as the 27th pick in the first round. But being selected later in the order put Marino on one of the top contending teams, the Miami Dolphins, who had just won the AFC Championship before ultimately losing to Washington in Super Bowl 17. Marino had his work cut out for him. , but I would get to work for a team with winning potential. He made his first NFL start in the sixth week of the 1983 season replacing veteran David Woodley behind center. He became an instant sensation.

Marino was exactly the offensive spark Miami needed. The Dolphins won nine of their final 10 games of the season and rode that momentum into the playoffs. But in the divisional round against the Seahawks, despite a strong first quarter from Marino, the offense collapsed. And then, in the final minutes, a spectacular implosion by the special teams unit iced the game. After a Seattle touchdown that gave them a four-point lead. Miami's Fulton Walker missed the opening kickoff. Seattle recovered, converted that into a field goal a few plays later, then Walker fumbled that kickoff again, which Seattle also recovered, and this time he simply ran out of time.

So, a rather sudden and deflating end to a season full of promise. Miami had a new star quarterback, Marino's teammates named him the AFC starter in the Pro Bowl. Marino was on the cusp of greatness, but would it be enough to defeat a giant? 1984 was the best season of Dan Marino's career. It was one of the best seasons a quarterback has ever had. Marino broke records in a single season. He was on another level. His 48 touchdowns were 12 more than the previous record and 16 more than any other quarterback in the league that year. Marino was aided in this effort by his strong receiving corps led by fellow Pro Bowlers, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton (collectively, the Marks Brothers).

Marino and the Marks brothers, who emerged together as second players, had a special chemistry that became a lethal offensive combination. Clayton even set his own record. The Dolphins were also backed by his defensive core, nicknamed Killer B because almost all of his last names began with B. Clever. In 1983, the B's allowed fewer points than any defense in the league and carried that suffocating ability into 1984. The Dolphins trampled the competition. He finished 14th and 2nd and made the playoffs. His first task was to get revenge on the Seahawks. In the AFC Championship game against the Steelers, the Dolphins offense put on a show of strength that included five consecutive touchdown drives.

Marino set some championship game records while he was at it. Not bad for the 23-year-old, considering he threw his last pass with 11 minutes

left

in the game. With that, the Dolphins closed their ticket to Stanford to face the best team in the league, the San Francisco 49ers. Powered by one of the best quarterbacks in the league, Joe Montana. That year, the 49ers became the first to win 15 regular-season games. They had powerful, versatile offensive weapons and running backs, Roger Craig and Wendell Tyler, and a deep threat receiving corps starring Dwight Clark. His defense allowed the fewest points in the regular season.

And all four of his starting defensive backs were Pro Bowl selections whose main goal was to make Marino's life as difficult as possible at Stanford. Despite this, the consensus was that Marino would be unstoppable after his historic performance in the regular season. Montana, who said his goal was simply to win games, took it personally. At the end of the first quarter, Miami led 10-7, but it would be their last lead of the game. In the second quarter, Marino and the Dolphins scored three goals, three times in a row. And the Niners responded to each one with a touchdown.

Marino managed to lead the Dolphins on a 72-yard drive only to score a field goal. On the ensuing kick return, a bit of confusion on the part of the Niners' Guy McEntire led to this fumble and the Dolphins' recovery, which they converted into another field goal just before halftime, but that spark failed to ignite the fire. And the Niners' vaunted defense held the Dolphins scoreless in the second half while racking up another 10 points. The 49ers succeeded by doing exactly

what

they set out to do: pressure and shut down Marino. The Dolphins, despite their talent, were simply outplayed by a historically good team.

Although t

here

was blame to share, an irritated Marino blamed himself and vowed to return to the big game, and soon. So, at just 23 years old, Dan Marino finished his first full season in the NFL, firmly entrenched in the record books. And the Dolphins had been to the Super Bowl twice in three seasons. The future looked bright in Miami, but could Marino get the organizational support he needed to take them all the way? Despite last season's success, the 1985 season got off to a rocky start. A contract dispute between Marino and Dolphins general manager Mike Robbie led to Marino holding out and missing more than a month of training camp.

And then, in the second week, one of his favorite targets suffered a knee injury. And in the ninth week of 1985, Miami had an alarming record of five and four. But after Dupers' return, the Dolphins bounced back and won their remaining seven games, clinching the AFC East for the fifth consecutive year. Hidden t

here

was Marino's Week 13 loss over the then-undefeated Chicago Bears, who had entered the night having allowed just 68 points in their previous nine games combined. Marino and the Dolphins scored 38, pretty good. But the Dolphins were discovering that any success came solely from the offense and almost in spite of the defense.

In the divisional round of the playoffs that year, Miami recorded a victory against the Cleveland Browns, who had nearly stopped the Dolphins in two ways; Defensively, Cleveland's backfield shut down Marino's favorite targets, the Marks Brothers, forcing Marino to throw short or scramble. Offensively, they set out to attack the Dolphins run defense. This almost worked. And the following week, in the AFC Championship game, the Patriots followed Cleveland's lead. New England's pressure led to six Miami turnovers, two interceptions for Marino and four fumbles on a rainy day in Miami. The Patriots turned those turnovers into 24 points on their way to a commanding victory, a painful playoff exit for the Dolphins after last season's success.

In 1986, the Dolphins defense simply fell apart. In a miserable week, a rout against San Diego, Miami gave up the second-most points in franchise history to that point, a distinction they would make again just two weeks later against the Jets. By the end of the season, Miami's once-great defense had given up more points than anyone in the AFC. There were a few reasons for the disintegration, one of the biggest being the loss of inside linebacker A.J. Duhe, around whom Miami's defensive scheme was built. Marino repeatedly found himself with the dubious task of overcoming the damage caused by the Dolphins' worst defense.

This, understandably, frustrated Marino. Having your team miss the playoffs for the first time in six years, despite having the best offense in the league, will affect you. And

what

didn't help was Marino's continued friction with the Dolphins front office. Marino was upset with the organization's tight wallet and noted how much money the franchise was making and how much more they were paying their peers elsewhere. Even before the season began, rumors were circulating that it would be Marino's last with Miami. Tensions were high and fans began booing Marino at home. The Dolphins eventually retained Marino, but things didn't improve much over the next three seasons.

And Miami missed the playoffs in each of them. '87 was cut short by a players' strike after the second week. When Marino and the regular starters returned in week seven, disgruntled fans said Marino and his team were very disappointing. They wondered if they could get replacement players back. After being destroyed by the Bears in the first week of the 1988 season, critics and players alike were immediately despondent, and they were right to be. The Dolphins followed a six-win season in '88 with an eight-win season the following year. Before the 1990 season, coach Don Shula and the team's management made a series of changes to take some of the pressure off of Marino.

They use their first two picks from that year's draft to shore up the offensive line. Aiming to create more running space for sophomore Sammy Smith and his inactive running game. And they replaced injured and aging veterans on the defensive end with an explicit focus on shoring up their run defense and keeping opponents beatable. After years of frustration, the moves paid off and the Dolphins found their way back to the playoffs, but a recurring enemy kept their progress in check. The Dolphins finished 1990 at 12 and 4, beat the Chiefs in the wild card game and advanced to face their division rival, the Buffalo Bills.

Between 1990 and 1995, the Dolphins and Bills met three times in the playoffs. None of them ended well for Marino or the Dolphins. The Bills were led by quarterback Jim Kelly. The third of those five quarterbacks selected before Marino in 1983. The Dolphins' first playoff game against the Bills came in the 1990 divisional round. After scoring early, Kelly and the Bills held the lead throughout the game. game. Despite Miami's turnaround in the season, their defense fell apart and the blame fell primarily on Dolphins safety Louis Oliver, whom the Bills repeatedly burned before Miami benched Oliver at center. time. Another factor according to the Dolphins, at least was the weather.

Despite taking extra precautions to play in the snow. The Florida team spent most of the game literally face down while Kelly warmed up. After an eight-eight season in 1991, the Dolphins returned to the playoffs again in 1992, blanking the Chargers, 31-0 in the divisional round, and facing the Bills in the AFC Championship game. Despite coming off a three-week layoff with a knee injury, Kelly once again blitzed the Dolphins en route to a 29-10 victory and their third straight AFC Championship. Miami's defense couldn't stop the Bills' attack, but they didn't do themselves any favors on offense either, turning the ball over five times, three of them on fumbles, and also allowing four sacks to Marino.

Marino also allowed two interceptions and didn't throw his only touchdown until late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of control. Marino's frustration after the game was palpable. He was 31 years old and many of his best years were behind him. And it seemed like deep down he suspected what we now know to be the truth: This would probably be the closest he would get to the Super Bowl again. The Dolphins faced the Bills again in the 1995 playoffs, but in the intervening years some key events had occurred. During the 1993 offseason, Marino lost his favorite, albeit declining, target in the Marks Brothers.

Clayton and free agency for the Packers andDuper, who was cut during training camp. Later that season, Marino suffered a torn Achilles tendon that kept him out for the rest of the year. And in 1994, the Dolphins suffered another devastating playoff loss. This time to the Chargers in the divisional round. Up 21-6 at halftime, the Dolphins held San Diego to a possible score and attacked their own. And then he immediately gave up a safety on the next snap. After the Chargers turned that into another seven points, they scored again with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, making the score 22-21.

The Dolphins put together a promising last-minute drive aided by a 32-yard pass interference call against the Chargers, but with seconds left, veteran kicker Pete Stoyanovich lined up for a game-winning 48-yard field goal and He missed wide, right and left. Short, simply brutal. So a year later, and back to the Bills after limping into the wild card game in 1995 with a record of nine and seven, critics and fans alike knew that if there was ever going to be a time to put the Trophy Lombardi in the hands of either Marino or Don Shula, whose last Super Bowl victory was in 1973, that window was rapidly closing.

The Bills scored 27 points on the Dolphins in three quarters before Marino and the Dolphins were able to muster an answer, which once again was too little, too late. Miami's run defense in that game allowed a franchise-worst 341 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Marino did his best with his own commanding performance, but the tightrope act had failed once again and the ruse that Miami was anything more than a one-dimensional team evaporated. Bill is on defense and, Phil Hanson even said, "It looked like the Dolphins tried to run, but they just gave up." In the end, Buffalo had only outscored Miami by a combined 44 points in three postseason games from 1990 to 1995.

A week later, Don Shula, with another year left on his contract announced his surprise retirement. It was a bitter end for the head coaches, otherwise legendary players were surprised, including Marino, but Shula admitted he was frustrated and critics said that given the way he had been playing Miami. It was the most dignified moment for his departure. The Dolphins immediately began searching for a new head coach and immediately settled on a favorite, former Dallas Cowboys player and Fox commentator Jimmy Johnson. Within a week, the deal was done. And JJ became the head coach of the Dolphins. Local writers and fans loved the game. "Johnson knew how to win," they said, perhaps forgetting that he replaced the winningest coach in NFL history. make something happen with the remaining weapons the Dolphins had at their disposal, even Marino was excited.

But from the beginning, Johnson knew that the key to success was actually separating Miami from Marino. Johnson was aware of the importance of preparing for the days when Marino was not up to par, something very, very rare, and he emphasized strengthening the offensive running game and shoring up the defense. This turned out to be more difficult than it seemed. In the middle of a mediocre season, the Miami hopeful panicked. The running game Johnson had planned to rely on

never

materialized. Over time, his relationship with Marino suffered, especially after Johnson fired Offensive Coordinator Gary Stevens, a holdover from the Don Shula years at the end of the '97 season.

In an effort to take more control and responsibility for his team in trouble, Johnson revoked Marino's ability to call plays at the line of scrimmage, which Marino said was like playing with one arm tied behind his back. With Johnson at the helm, Marino and the Dolphins

never

made it past the second round of the playoffs. Johnson attempted to retire after the third year of his four-year contract. Despite their strained relationship, Marino encouraged him to return for a fourth year. But frustrations continued to mount. A particularly loud fight after a Monday night football loss to the Bills caused any remaining relationship to completely dissolve.

But some still held out hope that despite the odds, despite the inconsistent offense, despite his age, Marino could still make it in the playoffs. The Dolphins made the 1999 playoffs with a 9-7 record and advanced to the divisional round after a wild card win against the Seahawks. What happened in that last game of the season and the last game of Dan Marino's career is the stuff of perverse legend. A 62-7 blowout at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the largest margin of victory in a playoff game in the modern era. It was a terrible performance by the team, but especially by Marino, who achieved some embarrassing numbers.

He later said that he had never experienced a game like that in his life. The fans called for Marino to retire. The next day, Jimmy Johnson beat him to the punch and announced his resignation. A couple of months later, Marino would join him, opting out of the final two years of his contract and ending his 17-year career with the Miami Dolphins. Five years later, Marino was elected to the Hall of Fame in the first year of his eligibility. During his acceptance speech, he thanked his two favorite targets, the Marks Brothers. and he threw this final declarative pass to Mark Clayton in the middle of the crowd, which he said at the time was what every retired quarterback wanted, one more throw, one more chance to go deep and win it all.

But part of this was also a reminder to both him and his fans. A reminder of when his name was on the lips of every football fan in the country and when every quarterback wanted to be him. An example of what he was capable of doing and how good he was at it. And evidence that even though a lot of time had passed and the peak of his career was barely visible in the distance, he would still be there forever, visible to everyone, even though Dan Marino never got a ring.