Marino, Dan(iel) Constantine, Jr (1961– )

US football player. He was the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins from 1983. In 1996 he became the first quarterback in the history of the National Football League (NFL) to pass for 50,000 yards. In 1984 he became the first to pass for 5,000 yards in a single season. He retired in March 2000.

Joining the Dolphins in the 1983 draft after an outstanding college football career at the University of Pittsburgh, he enjoyed one of the best ever debut seasons in the NFL by a quarterback, leading the AFC with a pass rating of 96.0 and becoming the first ever rookie quarterback to start in the Pro Bowl Game. In 1984, in the course of leading the Dolphins to Super Bowl XIX where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, he passed for an unprecedented 5,084 yards, and also set single season records for touchdown passes and completions. At his retirement, he was the most prolific passer in NFL history. In his 17 seasons he completed 4,967 passes for 61,361 yards, and made 420 touchdown passes. The only blemish on his career was that he did not win a Super Bowl.