Revisiting Marino's Legacy on Anniversary of His Retirement

Don McLean famously penned a song about loss, “American Pie,” in which the lyrics “the day the music died” say as much about the feeling as maybe any ever written. Twenty-five years ago on this day, Miami Dolphins fans who are old enough, remember what it felt like to share that sentiment.

On this date in 2000, the greatest player in Dolphins history, Dan Marino, stood before of throng of media and announced that he was retiring from football. And all that 25 years has done is help a legacy already firmly planted in greatness continue to grow.

He’s been called many things. “The greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl” grew into “the greatest passer of all time,” which ultimately morphed into “one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.” He’s been chosen as a favorite by QBs who grew up watching him like Peyton Manning, who ranked Marino only behind his father Archie as his personal favorite of all time.

But at the time of his retirement, things were not so pleasant. Marino had just completed the poorest statistical season of his career (204-for-369, 2,448 yards, 12 TD, 17 INT) and the team was coming off of what still stands as the worst playoff loss in the Super Bowl era, a 62-7 defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The day after that playoff loss, head coach Jimmy Johnson resigned. Years later he would lament never having a healthy Marino.

“Maybe one of the biggest disappointments I had in my career is not having a healthy Dan Marino,” Johnson said. “Dan was a great player, but … he tore his Achilles, he had the bad knees, then he had the bad shoulder my last year. In fact, I saw him at the Hall of Fame. He said he replaced both knees, I said, ‘I wished you replaced ’em before I got to the Dolphins.’”

Almost immediately following Johnson’s retirement, the Dolphins named Dave Wannstedt his successor. Wannstedt went about making it clear that the team was likely to move on from Marino and, in fact, signed Jay Fiedler, a backup in ’99 for the Jacksonville Jaguars, before any official decision had been made.

Then in February 2000, similar to the move Terron Armstead recently made to help the Dolphins and himself, Marino voided his contract, making him a free agent after 17 seasons with the team that drafted him.

"We appreciate Dan voiding his contract earlier today for salary-cap purposes," then-Dolphins president Eddie Jones said. "This gives us additional room under the salary cap that we need for free agency, while at the same time it allows Dan additional time to consider all his options. I'm not going to speculate about what Dan's going to do. Dan is a great athlete and he's done everything possible he can do in football."

Numerous teams were discussed as possibilities for Marino while the mystery remained whether he would play again and, if so, for whom. The most notable team mentioned at the time was Minnesota, but reports were that if Marino were to play anywhere, it would be somewhere warm.  

In the end, Marino made the call for himself and a press conference was scheduled for March 13, 2000, ultimately cementing him as the greatest in the hearts and minds of Dolphins fans everywhere.

“After 17 years, I would like to announce my retirement from the Miami Dolphins,” Marino opened the press conference with. “After playing the game of football for most of my life, this was an extremely difficult decision. But I know that I have made the right decision for me and my family. I'm very proud of the success that we have had as a team for 17 years as well as all my individual accomplishments.”

Upon his retirement, Marino held NFL all-time records for passing yards (61,361), completions (4,967), and touchdown passes (420), along with countless other passing records. His place at the time in NFL history though was held in check by the fact he had never won a Super Bowl. In fact, the quarterback mentioned most at the time as the “greatest” was likely Joe Montana, who won four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers.

IMAGINING MARINO IN TODAY'S NFL

Time and technology have been a friend to Marino’s legacy, however. It has taken decades for quarterbacks — now in an era geared more toward passing — to come close to or eclipse Marino’s records. As his name comes up each time a new record is broken, people look back at Marino’s accomplishments in amazement.

Even Montana commented when asked about his Super Bowl XIX counterpart.

“Put Marino into today’s game where he gets free release … and his receivers, holy cow, weren’t very big,” Montana told Men’s Health Magazine in 2023. “Now these guys are 6-4, 6-5. I think [Marino] is probably one of the most unsung heroes of the game. People don’t talk enough about him or realize the numbers that he put up during the times that he put them up.”

Montana said Marino could throw the football in a way that other quarterbacks simply couldn’t.

“He had a quick release. I had to step into a lot of things to get enough [force] on the ball,” Montana said of Marino. “He had the perfect torque of his upper body and strength to deliver the ball quickly at a fast release with accuracy.”

These qualities have helped gain Marino respect with a generation who never saw him play. Many of today’s younger fans learn their NFL history — shoot, football — by playing the video game Madden. When they see a player with a 99 rating and deemed an “Ultimate Legend,” a whole new respect is found that didn’t even exist at the time the great one hung up his cleats.

There have been 24 quarterbacks to start for the Dolphins in the 25 years since Marino left. A figure often mentioned in print and television, it wouldn’t be as noteworthy without such an amazing disparity in just watching the man throw a football compared to all the others.

MARINO A DOLPHINS LIFER

In 2022, after Matthew Stafford moved on after years with the Lions to earn his first Super Bowl with the Rams, Marino was asked about having the desire to continue playing after 1999.

“Yes, I definitely thought about it, to be honest with you,” Marino said. “I played 17 years for the Dolphins, and they were kind of going in a new direction and a new coach, and I had offers to go play other places and really thought about it, and maybe had a chance to win a championship like Matthew has done.”

However, Marino mentioned that ultimately he just couldn’t reconcile leaving Miami after nearly two decades with the same team, and he decided to retire instead.

“It just didn’t feel right,” Marino said. “I just decided I’ll just be a Dolphin for life, and it’s worked out great.”

With a statue out front of Hard Rock Stadium, a role that has kept him working with the team to this day, and half the fans showing up to every home game wearing No. 13 jerseys, it is clear that things have "worked out great."

And for playing every game wearing Dolphins colors despite other opportunities, Marino likely will forever remain in the hearts of Miami fans as the “greatest of all time.”

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