Country singer Darius Rucker named teenage daughter after Dan Marino

According to the site 2Paragraphs.com, Rucker’s fandom dates back to at least 1995 when he performed the national anthem prior to a game the then Marino-led Dolphins played in, at which point Marino gained a life-long fan.

“(Marino) took the jersey off of his back and had it framed for me,” said Rucker. “It has dirt on it and everything.” Marino included the game ball and “a great letter.” Rucker says it’s “my most prized item in my sports memorabilia collection”

Dani itself isn’t necessarily an uncommon name. In fact, some woman use it as a short version of Danielle.

Still, the recent revelation that his daughter was named after a Hall of Fame quarterback can be seen as a bit surprising in the grand scheme of things.

It should, however, be mentioned that Rucker’s 1995 hit song Only Wanna Be with You included the lyrics, “the Dolphins make me cry.”

Now in the midst of a playoff season, we can pretty much be sure that Rucker isn’t crying about his team’s performance this season. That much is clear.

An interesting side note here, the name Dani was also used by the main character, played by Callie Thorne, in the hit show Necessary Roughness. Possibly a coincidence, the show centered around a woman who acted as a team psychologist for a fictional professional football squad.