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Marino Saw Favre On His TD Trail
by Mike Spofford, Packers.com
posted 09/19/2007
When longtime Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino retired following the 1999 season with an NFL-record 420 career touchdown passes, Packers quarterback Brett Favre was a little over halfway there, with 235 touchdown throws.
Yet Marino felt at the time that if any quarterback was going to approach his record, it would be Favre. The reason?
The Hall of Fame quarterback turned CBS television analyst cited many in a recent one-on-one interview with Packers.com. Favre's ability to make big plays outside the pocket, his ultra-competitiveness and his unmatched arm strength were just a few. But the one overriding trait that has tied the others together and put Favre on the verge of breaking the touchdown mark, in Marino's mind, is his unprecedented durability at the position.
"The thing that's incredible is his ability to play 239 games in a row," Marino said. "I really didn't think anybody would get to (the record), but I knew that the one guy out there that could probably get to that level of 420 would be Brett Favre. Not only his ability as a great quarterback, but the durability he has, just the ability to play each and every week, is pretty amazing."
This week against San Diego, Favre will start his 240th consecutive regular-season game needing just three touchdown passes to match Marino's record of 420. After the Packers' offense did not score a touchdown in Week 1 versus Philadelphia, Favre threw for three scores last week against the New York Giants to give him 417 touchdown passes in his 17-year career.
Favre's streak of consecutive starts, long ago the record for quarterbacks, will match Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff for the second-longest recorded string in NFL history on Sunday.
Marino marvels at the achievement because he was pretty durable himself, but not to that extent. Beginning when he took over Miami's starting job partway through his rookie year of 1983, he missed just six games over his first 10 seasons and 25 games of a possible 267 until he retired.
But as Favre's streak continues, Marino sees Favre succeeding because he has maintained his arm strength and accuracy, much like Marino did as a veteran. In his second-to-last year and final full season of 1998, Marino threw for 3,497 yards and 23 TDs.
"His arm strength and his ability to throw it accurate and with velocity is as good as anybody's ever had in the league," Marino said. "To play at a high level like he has for so long -- and that's something I always took pride in, too -- and to be that type of quarterback, that's what you have to have."
Marino confesses the biggest difference between himself and Favre is the ability to make things happen on the move. Marino was much more of a classic drop-back passer, whereas Favre has made his mark scrambling and improvising as needed.
But for Favre's sake, Marino hopes there's another significant difference too -- in how he breaks the touchdown record.
Back on Nov. 26, 1995, in Indianapolis, Marino threw his 343rd touchdown pass to break the record Fran Tarkenton had held for 20 years. The 6-yard scoring toss to Keith Byars came with 1:06 left in the second quarter, with the Dolphins trailing 24-0.
"It was a little bittersweet because we didn't win the game," Marino said of the eventual 36-28 defeat. "It was on the road and we were trying to come from behind. If I was Brett, I would want a touchdown pass to win the game, maybe in overtime. Something spectacular to do it. Mine wasn't that way."
 During that 1995 season, Marino broke four of Tarkenton's career records, for touchdowns, pass attempts, completions, and passing yards, in four different games over a span of two months. But Miami won just one of those four contests, so for Marino there wasn't much to celebrate at the time.
Favre has felt exactly the same way about records, that they mean a lot more when they're attached to winning. Even as he became the all-time winningest quarterback last week with victory No. 149, Favre said after the game, "It won't mean a lot if we lose next week."
Favre broke Marino's record for pass completions in a 17-9 home win over Detroit last Dec. 17, and he's just 56 attempts and 3,370 yards away from breaking Marino's marks in those categories.
But the touchdown standard has attracted by far the most attention. Marino has held it for 12 years, and both quarterbacks suspect Favre won't hold it nearly as long.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning already has 279 touchdown passes just two games into his 10th season, and his durability rivals Favre's. He has started 146 straight games, every game the Colts have played since he was drafted in 1998.
Favre's record ultimately may become just a number for Manning to surpass, but what that number will be Marino isn't going to guess.
"I think that's up to Brett, how long he wants to play," Marino said. "When I see him playing now, he looks great, he looks healthy. As long as he has that competitive edge and wants to play, he can throw as many as he wants."
Favre hasn't, and won't, make much of the records as they come up this season and for the rest of his career. Marino said that's to be expected, and it wasn't until he was finished playing that he felt any real appreciation for the achievements.
"I broke the records and I played four more years," Marino said. "I appreciated it, but it was about winning football games. I had accomplished some things that nobody else had ever accomplished that played the game. From that standpoint, when you look back on your time in the game, you appreciate your accomplishments.
"But while you're playing, you don't think about it as much because you're so into what you're doing. You're into playing at a high level and trying to win football games."
And that's something Marino will never tire of appreciating about Favre, regardless of how many records are broken along the way.
"No matter what the situation is in a game, he always gives you hope," Marino said. "He's such a mentally tough player, and his playmaking abilities always give you a chance. Just his ability to come from behind and be so competitive, that's something as a quarterback you love to see in a guy." |
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