Marino Has the Deeds, No Title

It’s a far cry from what he envisioned, but the most prolific passer in NFL history is walking away without a championship ring.

Joining a list that includes Ernie Banks, Elgin Baylor and Marcel Dionne--giants in their sports who never won a title--Dan Marino will announce Monday that he is retiring after 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, sources said Friday.

Marino endured a rocky final season with the Dolphins that included a neck injury, frequent sniping from Coach Jimmy Johnson and a 62-7 playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the most lopsided defeat in franchise history.

Still, after following the Dolphins’ wishes by voiding his contract last month and becoming a free agent, the 38-year-old Marino considered an offer this week to become the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

He ultimately rejected it, according to friends, because of his creaky knees--he has undergone six knee operations--his loyalty to the Dolphins and his unwillingness to be separated from his wife and five children for an extended period.

The Dolphins confirmed that a news conference for Marino is scheduled Monday, but declined further comment.

Viking Coach Dennis Green, in Tampa, Fla., for a meeting of the NFL competition committee, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Marino called him Friday to say he planned to retire.

“We felt we had a good chance to convince Marino to join our team, because of our great wide receivers and our great offensive team,” Green said. “But I’m not surprised that he decided not to play. We had to give it a try.”

Part of the celebrated quarterback class of 1983 that also included John Elway, Jim Kelly, Ken O’Brien, Todd Blackledge and Tony Eason, Marino wasn’t drafted until all the others had been picked.

But Marino, taken by the Dolphins with the 27th pick in the first round, outlasted them all, ending his career with records of 61,361 yards passing, 4,967 completions and 420 touchdown passes.

In his second season, 1984, he passed for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns in setting league records that still stand, and led the Dolphins to the Super Bowl.

The season ended unhappily, however, when the Dolphins lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 38-16.

In a television commercial taped later, Marino took a soda from 49er quarterback Joe Montana.

“Next time, I buy,” Marino said.

For Marino, there was no next time. The Dolphins, lacking a strong running game to complement Marino’s passing, failed to return to the Super Bowl.

In his final season, Marino sat out five games because of a neck injury and his play was sporadic. He passed for 12 touchdowns and threw 17 interceptions, the only time in his career that his interceptions outnumbered his scoring passes. His quarterback rating was 30th in the 31-team league.

Johnson, who had been openly critical of his quarterback all season, retired the day after the playoff loss to the Jaguars, and new Coach Dave Wannstedt sidestepped questions about Marino’s future with the Dolphins.

The Dolphins’ plans became clearer when, after Marino became a free agent, they signed free-agent quarterback Jay Fiedler to a three-year, $3.8-million deal.

The untidy exit, however, is not expected to diminish Marino’s brilliant career. Nor, some say, should his failure to have won a Super Bowl.

Where does he rank among quarterbacks?

“He should be No. 1, because he’s got all the passing records,” said Don Shula, his coach for 13 years. “Sure he would have loved to have gone out with a Super Bowl ring, similar to Elway. That didn’t happen. But you still look at a 17-year career, and he’s done things no other quarterbacks have done.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Dan Marino’s Statistics

Dan Marino’s NFL regular-season statistics, all with the Miami Dolphins:

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Year Com Att Yds TD Int 1983 173 296 2210 20 6 1984 362 564 5084 48 17 1985 336 567 4137 30 21 1986 378 623 4746 44 23 1987 263 444 3245 26 13 1988 354 606 4434 28 23 1989 308 550 3997 24 22 1990 306 531 3563 21 11 1991 318 549 3970 25 13 1992 330 554 4116 24 16 1993 91 150 1218 8 3 1994 385 615 4453 30 17 1995 309 482 3668 24 15 1996 221 373 2795 17 9 1997 319 548 3780 16 11 1998 310 537 3497 23 15 1999 204 369 2448 12 17 Totals 4967 8358 61361 420 252

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