Marino is the best QB ever to play the game, period, full stop. The one 'hole' in his resume is never having won a Superbowl, but the fact is that winning the biggest game requires having two things that Marino's squads rarely did; a reliable running game and a defense capable of stopping opponents. Did the fins ever have a 1000 yard back during his tenure?Every other stat tells the story. He threw for more yards, more TD's, to more recievers than anyone in history. His yardage marks are the kind that generate comparisons only to players in other sports, like Gretzky's assists total He was in a class of his own, and the only tragedy is that he didn't have a team that could help him get to the big dance enough to make his mark there.
Welcome to the HOF Dan-o, you earned it!
2 comments:
The Greatest...to never.
In a sad, sad way he's John Elway just without the rings. I'm not suggesting that his greatest accomplishment was his cameo in Pet Detective with Jim Carey, but it is no small thing to say he didn't win the big one - unfortuantely that is a very significant blemish on an otherwise amazing run.
Here's hoping that the next great quarterback, Peyton Manning, can do his idol one better and get that Vince Lombardi trophy. After all wining isn't everything, its the only thing.
I would take Marino anytime, everytime in a QB pool. He's that much better than everyone else.
Also, consider that;
Trent (the houseplant) Dilfer has a ring.
Jim Kelly, Archie Manning (Peyton's Dad), Drew Bledsoe, Dan Fouts, and a host of other legit all-star QB's from the past - do not.
Now I'm comfortable with the idea that winning a superbowl or four definitely does improve your HOF resume substantially. But this is Marino, the classic case of a QB who had the golden arm but a tin-foil team.
As for your comparison with Elway, consider that Elway was at the tail end of his career when the Bronco's landed Terrell Davis in the 6th rnd of the draft. He was the feature back they needed to compliment Elway's passing game, and bingo-bango-boingo, Elway goes out on top with a couple of bowl wins. If Davis goes to someone else, no bowl games for Elway.
Lastly, consider that in football, you have essentially two full hockey teams at work on both sides of the ball, and a third team+ on special teams. An individual like Marino can stand out from everyone else, but he can't win the games on his lonesome - as much as he might be asked to.
His passing ability was so sick, so beyond everyone else that he dragged mediocre Dolphin teams to respectability they otherwise would never have had. Can you even name a Dolphin tailback prior to Ricky Williams and post Larry Csonka?
But I bet you can name at least a couple of Marino's pro-bowl recievers....
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