The 1983 draft will forever be known for its legendary haul of quarterbacks. In all, the 1st-round of the 1983 NFL Draft saw seven Pro Football Hall of Famers added — three of which were quarterbacks. There was John Elway, the #1 overall pick, Jim Kelly and, of course, Dan Marino. The fascinating part of Marino’s story coming into the NFL was that in a draft that saw six quarterbacks drafted in the 1st-round, Marino came off the board last.
John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O’Brien, Dan Marino. If you stacked them all up, Marino would go down as the best pure passer of the bunch. And with 60,000+ passing yards to his credit, who could argue with him?
But Marino vividly remembers the experience of sliding down the draft boards — and he recalled what that experience was like for the Dolphins as part of a promotional series of draft stories in the buildup to April’s 2020 NFL Draft.
It turned out pretty good 😏 @DanMarino tells you about the 1983 NFL Draft.
Draft Stories x @budlight pic.twitter.com/IvNNKBc3Jr
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 26, 2020
“The best part of this story is I remember during that day, I think my dad for sure knew I was frustrated. He could see it on my face. But after Miami picked me, the one thing he said was ‘It doesn’t really matter where you go. If you’re good at what you do’ — which he said that I was and I knew that I was — ‘that you’re going to be successful either way.’ So, being pick 27 to Miami was special. And it turned out pretty good.”
Indeed it did. And the Dolphins are hoping now, 37 years after drafting Dan Marino in the 1st-round, that they can recapture a little bit of that NFL Draft magic and secure their next “Dan Marino” in next month’s 2020 NFL Draft. The team will have options. And they must not be afraid of risk — much like the Dolphins weren’t in taking Marino in 1983 amid concerns about his turnovers at Pittsburgh. Here’s hoping this time around turns out “pretty good” as well.