Marino Says He Misses Camp

Record-setting quarterback Dan Marino, who left the Dolphins’ training camp in a contract dispute, says, “I did what I had to do,” and wants to be in practice preparing for the regular season, the Miami Herald reported Friday.

Marino, who has been receiving negative reaction in fan polls conducted by the media since he left camp July 25, said he was forced to listen to Miami’s exhibition game against Minnesota last Saturday on the radio in his van because his golden retriever had chewed the plug on the stereo in his home.

“The van was the only place I could hear the game,” Marino said in his first interview since leaving the team. “I listened mostly to the first half when (Don) Strock was playing.

“The toughest part of all this is that I really want to be at practice getting ready to play. I mean, that’s what I do. The way I felt about the negative reaction is that maybe I’d react that way, too, if I didn’t know everything that was going on.

“I don’t blame the people. I can understand people saying that I should honor my contract, but what they’re not thinking about is that the contract is a one-way deal. I’ve seen teams terminate a contract of a player when there was time left on it.”

Dolphin owner Joe Robbie has said he will not negotiate while Marino, who has two years remaining on his present contract, is out of camp. Marino says he will not return without a new contract. Marino reportedly wants to be paid at least as much as quarterback Joe Montana, who earns about $1 million per season with the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers.

Marino’s contract, signed after he was picked No. 1 by the Dolphins out of Pittsburgh in the 1983 draft, calls for him to be paid $300,000 this year, with a $50,000 reporting bonus. Robbie promised to renegotiate Marino’s contract the week before last January’s Super Bowl.