Dan Marino thinks NFL QBs today have it easy, says he'd shatter all their records

Retired since the 1999 season, some still believe Dan Marino is the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. Others who place a great amount of stock in Super Bowl victories place others, such as Tom Brady on top, but the one thing that isn’t up for debate is the fact that Marino is one of the best QBs in NFL history. It’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame.

However, a lot has changed since Marino donned a Miami Dolphins uniform. For example, the NFL’s rules have gotten a lot more friendly for QBs. Even more, some QBs have as many as 700 or more passing attempts in a single season. Playing an extra game, 17 instead of the 16 Marino played per season, we saw a 45-year-old Tom Brady attempt 733 passes last year. The most Marino ever had was 623.

Just from comparing statistics from QBs of yesteryear to the average NFL starter today, you can see a massive difference. For example, Marino’s career completion percentage was 59.4%. That would be trash by today’s standards. The starting QB with the lowest completion rate in the NFL last season was Baker Mayfield, at 60%.

Yet, these numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt, as Marino was one of the best passers of his era, and they were playing under different guidelines in a much more physical sport at the time.

However, that doesn’t mean Marino couldn’t hang in today’s league if he were somehow given a chance to begin again as a rookie out of Pitt, taking advantage of today’s friendlier atmosphere for QBs. In fact, Marino believes he’d be able to set records in this era too. Specifically, Marino says the NFL’s individual passing yardage record for a single season would be in danger if he was still slinging the pigskin.

“The best part about this is I’m retired and I don’t have to prove it. Yes, we’d throw for 6,000 yards. It would be a lot of fun. I wish I could. You can’t hit the quarterback the way you used to. You can’t get a shot in the head, they can’t go to your knees. And I think that’s a good thing because when I played you were allowed to do that. Players could take shots at you.”
Dan Marino on the stats he could achieve today

It’s really a shame that Marino doesn’t have to prove it because there are likely a lot of Dolphins fans who would love to see No. 13 dust off the cleats. Then again, with Tua Tagovailoa, the ‘Fins are in good hands.

Remember, Marino once threw for 5,084 passing yards, which came in just his second season in the pros. It shattered the NFL’s single-season passing yardage record in 1984 and wasn’t broken until Drew Brees set a new mark in 2011. Peyton Manning would reset the bar at 5,477 passing yards two years later, in 2013.

But as Marino says, 5,500 passing yards is nothing, even if no one has ever accomplished the feat before. And yes, we all wish he could be given a chance to prove it too.