Thank goodness. The NFL’s season-long celebration of 100 years of NFL football culminated yesterday with the release of the 10 quarterbacks who would be honored as members of the NFL 100 All-Time team — and they got this one right. Several Miami legends were passed over throughout the course of the exercise, but the league got the last decision around a Miami Dolphin right — Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino has made the list.
Dan Marino is one of 10 QBs selected to the #NFL100 All-Time Team!
🐬 1984 NFL MVP
🐬 3x First-Team All-Pro
🐬 5th all-time pass yards and TDs
🐬 First player with 5,000+ pass yards in a single season (1984) pic.twitter.com/6TUPXIhszm— NFL (@NFL) December 28, 2019
The way in which Marino re-wrote the passing records throughout the 1980s and 1990s was unthinkable — Marino was two decades ahead of his time based on his production in the NFL versus what the rules allowed at the time. You’ll often hear former NFL players reference Marino as a player that would thrive in today’s modern league with the new rules towards hitting quarterbacks and offensive skill players running routes.
But instead, Marino will go down in NFL history as one of the trailblazers of the quarterback position. The first quarterback to throw for over 5,000 yards in a single season and the long-time record holder for the best individual passing performance in NFL history for his magical 1984 season. Those numbers have since been surpassed, but it was the manner in which Marino did it in ’84 and the time that passed between his accomplishments and when the records fell that further cement his legacy as an all-time great.
Marino’s release still, to this day, is considered the quickest release in all of football. The NFL 100 panel did a great job explaining why it was so important to Marino’s game.
"Maybe the quickest release we've ever seen in the game." #NFL100 pic.twitter.com/FFDH73IUmg
— NFL (@NFL) December 28, 2019
Marino joins Dolphins WR Paul Warfield, C Dwight Stephenson and head coach Don Shula as Miami’s representatives on the NFL 100 All-Time roster, a modest representation of the history of this long-time proud franchise.
Here’s to the next 100 years — and the next centennial roster having a few more Miami Dolphins on it as well.
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