Dan Marino Statue

This statue commemorates Miami Dolphins Hall-of-Fame quarterback Dan Marino (1961-). Born in the Steel City, he attended the University of Pittsburgh before the Miami Dolphins selected him with the twenty-seventh overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. Ultimately, Marino spent his entire seventeen-year NFL career with the organization. In that time, he established himself as one of the greatest to ever play the quarterback position. During his career, Marino led the league in passing yards five times and touchdown passes three times. He threw for 3,000 or more yards thirteen times, surpassing 4,000 yards in six of them. Marino’s best year was 1984, when he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 5,000 yards and forty touchdowns in a season. That year, Marino piloted the Dolphins to an AFC East title, a victory in the AFC Championship Game, and an appearance in Super Bowl XIX, collecting the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award along the way. Following the 1999 season, the nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro selection retired, finishing his career with 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in his first year of eligibility. On the evening of September 17, 2000, during halftime of their nationally-televised game with the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins retired Marino’s jersey number and unveiled a statue of him to be permanently placed outside Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium). Designed by Colorado-based artist George Lundeen, the life-sized bronze sculpture depicts the longtime Dolphins signal-caller saluting fans. Dressed in his uniform and sporting a large grin, he grasps his helmet with his left hand while his right holds high a football.

Daniel Constantine Marino, Jr. was born on September 15, 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The only son of Daniel Marino, a truck driver for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Veronica (Kolczynski) Marino, he grew up with his two younger sisters, Cindi and Debbie, in the city’s South Oakland neighborhood. Marino attended nearby St. Regis Catholic Elementary School before enrolling at Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High School, where he starred on the school’s baseball and football teams. Although the Kansas City Royals selected him in the fourth round of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, he decided to play football at the collegiate level and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, mere blocks from his family’s home. A four-year starter at quarterback, Marino led the Panthers to three straight eleven-win seasons, setting school records along the way. His most memorable collegiate moment came in the 1982 Sugar Bowl, when he threw a thirty-three-yard, game-winning touchdown pass with less than a minute to go in regulation to defeat the Georgia Bulldogs. 

After his senior season at Pitt, the Miami Dolphins selected Marino with the twenty-seventh overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. Ultimately, he spent his entire seventeen-year NFL career with the organization. In that time, Marino established himself as one of the greatest to ever play the quarterback position. During his career, he led the league in passing yards five times and touchdown passes three times. Marino threw for 3,000 or more yards thirteen times, surpassing 4,000 yards in six of them. His best year was 1984, when he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 5,000 yards and forty touchdowns in a season. That year, Marino piloted the Dolphins to an AFC East title, a victory in the AFC Championship Game, and an appearance in Super Bowl XIX, collecting the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award along the way. Following the 1999 season, the nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro selection retired, finishing his career with 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdowns. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame two years later in his first year of eligibility. 

Following his retirement, Marino became an analyst for HBO’s Inside the NFL from 2002 to 2007 and CBS’s The NFL Today from 2002 to 2013. In early 2004, the Dolphins named him senior vice president of football operations, but Marino resigned just three weeks later, citing personal reasons. Ten years later, the organization hired him as a special advisor, a role that he remains in today.

On the evening of September 17, 2000, during halftime of their nationally-televised game with the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins retired Marino’s jersey number and unveiled a statue of him to be permanently placed outside Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium). Designed by Colorado-based artist George Lundeen, the life-sized bronze sculpture depicts the longtime Dolphins signal-caller saluting fans. Dressed in his uniform and sporting a large grin, he grasps his helmet with his left hand while his right holds high a football.  

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