Miami Dolphins 50 At 50: Quarterbacks
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins will be celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and we will be taking a look at the top ten players from each position as we fight through the doldrums of June heading towards the start of training camp in late July.
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The Dolphins have had many quarterbacks over the last 50 years but over the last 15 years the Dolphins have struggled to find the right players to fill the void that was left when Dan Marino retired. Is Ryan Tannehill the guy that will finally put to bed the annoyance of yearly quarterback change or is he just good enough to keep things rolling? Where does he fit in Dolphins history?
It’s easy to know who the top two quarterbacks are. There is no lead up to that, no suspense. So instead of counting up, we’ll count down to number 10. Leave your comments on who should have been in and weren’t or who should have been ranked higher and wasn’t. It should be pretty easy to nail ten quarterbacks given the Dolphins history over the last fifty season. This is not a statistical list entirely but instead a list of players who had the highest impact on the team, it’s history, and it’s fan base.
Dan Marino
Sep 27, 2014; London, UNITED KINGDOM; Miami Dolphins former quarterback Dan Marino (right) and Neil Reynolds at NFL on Regent Street in advance of the International Series game between the Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Hall of Fame? Check. Enshrined in the Dolphins Ring of Honor? Check. One of the most South Florida sports celebrities? Check. In Miami Dan Marino is just shy in popularity as Don Shula and truth be told it’s possible that his status with the Miami fan base has elevated Marino above Shula…o.k. that’s debatable and I’m on the side of Shula in this one.
Dan Marino at one time held all of the passing records in the NFL or at least most of them. Brett Favre and Peyton Manning have taken over most of those records but Marino threw his record setting stats during a period where the quarterback wasn’t protected, where receivers could be mauled in routes, and the passing game was nothing like it is today. Imagine the statistical numbers Marino would put up in today’s NFL. So while he is obviously number one, he comes in number 10 on this list. (Down not up!)