Dan Marino

The first time Dan Marino passed this way, he was a mere rookie quarterback with the Miami Dolphins. Almost exactly 14 years ago -- on Oct. 23, 1983 -- he led the Dolphins to a 21-7 victory over the Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium. Threw for two touchdowns and 157 yards in a driving rainstorm.That was before he amassed any of his 23 NFL records, before his nine Pro Bowl selections, before his nine pro surgeries, before anyone knew how truly great a quarterback he was.Back then, he was a first-round draft choice and a curiosity -- as in how he fell to the 27th pick overall after five other quarterbacks, not all of them named John Elway or Jim Kelly, were selected.

Virginia senior midfielder and solo captain Chris LaPierre will forgo the rest of the season, Virginia coach Dom Starsia said Wednesday. "You feel for a kid in that situation," Starsia said. "He came in with this class, feels responsible to this class, but obviously he's been struggling with an ailment. " LaPierre injured his posterior cruciate ligament in the Cavaliers' first practice of the season, then appeared in games against Drexel, Syracuse and Vermont, but has not played the past two weeks.

Booed, embarrassed and besieged, Jim Kelly was well past denial, running smack up against resignation, when he faced a large media contingent Sunday in the bowels of Buffalo's Rich Stadium.What the Buffalo Bills quarterback said shocked reporters more than the intentional grounding penalty he drew on the goal line in the game's final minutes, or the interception he threw shortly after that.What Kelly said was, if he doesn't get the job done, he should be replaced by Todd Collins."I'm man enough to realize if you can't get it done, no matter what the position, it's time to move on to something else," he said.

Just when you thought you couldn't possibly hate CBS Sports' coverage of the Baltimore Ravens more, along come Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason with their ignorant pre-game predictions Sunday. “I love the Bengals to come of age today,” Esiason said. “I think Baltimore's going to be the fifth seed,” Marino added. “Baltimore has not been a good road team all year.  And A.J. Green is coming back for Cincinnati. That means Pittsburgh's got to beat Cleveland, which I think will happen.  They will be the No. 2 seed, and Cincinnati gets in the playoffs today.”  Right, guys.

NFL players' salaries increased more than 18 percent this year, with veteran quarterbacks and untested rookies getting big money, according to a survey by the players' association.The average player earned $422,149 in 1991, an all-time high, said the NFL Players Association's annual salary survey, reported yesterday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.That is 18.5 percent higher than the 1990 average salary of $356,382 and 41 percent higher than the 1989 average of $299,616.The survey also showed 83 players -- 29 of whom are quarterbacks -- averaging $1 million or more per year in 1991, and 11 players with contracts worth at least $2 million annually.

Virginia senior midfielder and solo captain Chris LaPierre will forgo the rest of the season, Virginia coach Dom Starsia said Wednesday. "You feel for a kid in that situation," Starsia said. "He came in with this class, feels responsible to this class, but obviously he's been struggling with an ailment. " LaPierre injured his posterior cruciate ligament in the Cavaliers' first practice of the season, then appeared in games against Drexel, Syracuse and Vermont, but has not played the past two weeks.

The NFL Today Noon [chs. 13, 9] Dan Marino has an exclusive interview with Brett Favre. That guy just kind of flew under the radar when he decided to unretire, didn't he? When Marino asks Favre how much longer he expects to play, you are justified to snort at whatever the answer is.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Dan Marino wants to make an impact off the field as well.The Miami Dolphins quarterback announced he has formed a non-profit organization to support Florida youth charities."

On January 18, 2005, JAMES "ZIN" MARINO, SR., beloved husband of the late Anna Marino (nee Dinardo); devoted father of John Marino and the late James Marino, Jr., and Donald Marino; dear brother of Rose Myers, Ida Bruno, Mollie Stallard, and the late Charles and Dan Marino and Anna Stairs; loving grandfather of eleven; great-grandfather of eleven. Friends may call at the CVACH/ROSEDALE FUNERAL HOME, 1211 Chesaco Avenue, on Thursday and Friday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, 9:15 a.m., at St. Clement Catholic Church.

When's payday?Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon hasn't collected a salary this season, while his agent -- Leigh Steinberg -- and the Oilers try to figure out the tricky escalator clause in his contract.Moon's worth is determined in part by the average salary of the three top-paid NFL quarterbacks, but it can't be determined exactly how much Dan Marino, John Elway and Joe Montana are making.Moon isn't sure how much longer he can last without a check. "I can go until my wife decides we need some money," he said.

On the afternoon of such a glorious victory over a hated foe, I am not going to go psycho-negative and start ripping the CBS Sports team that brought us the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers season opener Sunday. There is too much joy in Ravens Land today for that. But I also can't let the CBS pre-game gang off without pointing out what an act-like-you-know bunch of hotdogs they were in their unanimous picks of the Steelers to beat the Ravens. And no one was a bigger gasbag anywhere in the land of football television Sunday than Dan Marino in explaining why he was picking the Steelers over the Ravens.

Through intrepid efforts and at great personal risk, your correspondent sneaked into a highly confidential recent meeting. Here's what I saw: The setting is a large, well-appointed conference room at NFL headquarters in New York - accessible only via a single elevator. Dominating the room is a life-sized portrait of former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, illuminated by lights at least twice as bright as any others on the ceiling. Gathered around the heavy oak table are NFL announcers from every network - play-by-play men, analysts, studio talking heads, even some sideline reporters.

The NFL Today Noon [chs. 13, 9] Dan Marino has an exclusive interview with Brett Favre. That guy just kind of flew under the radar when he decided to unretire, didn't he? When Marino asks Favre how much longer he expects to play, you are justified to snort at whatever the answer is.

Please stay home, Brett Favre. It's not that I would mind watching you play a little longer. Heck, I recently called you the fifth-greatest quarterback of all time. And you showed last season that you can still play at an elite level. No, I'm not asking because you did anything wrong. I'm asking because we, the sports media, need to be protected from ourselves. You see, for the past three NFL offseasons, we tried to sell newspapers and drive television ratings by speculating madly about whether you would retire.

HOW THE GAME WAS LOST The Ravens could do nothing right on offense, defense or special teams, falling behind 23-0 in the first 13 minutes, and trailing by 30 points at halftime. The Colts out-gained the Ravens by 198 yards and forced three turnovers in the first half. BIG LETDOWN Cornerback Samari Rolle called last Monday night's game against the New England Patriots "our Super Bowl" before the Ravens went down to the wire with the NFL's only unbeaten team. So what was last night's debacle against the Indianapolis Colts, the first preseason game for the Ravens?

Billy Donovan's waxing and waning on whether to leave Florida and take the head coaching job with the Orlando Magic follows a long tradition, not just in sports, but in the public arena of flip-flopping. Or as Jimmy Durante once sang, "Did you ever have the feelin' that you wanted to go and still had that feelin' that you wanted to stay?" Here are some other flip-floppers who come to mind: Bill Belichick -- For several heartbeats in 2000, he was head coach of the New York Jets. But the news conference to introduce him turned out to be his exit interview.

Joe Namath, in an interview last night with Dan Marino on HBO's Real Sports, said he never gets tired of talking about the legendary guarantee of the New York Jets' 1969 Super Bowl victory over the Baltimore Colts. "No way," Namath said. "Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees [in 1956], came up with the perfect answer. I was standing there and someone asked Don, `Do you ever get tired of talking about your perfect game,' and Don said, 'Why should I?' " Marino asked Namath if the Jets played the Colts in the Super Bowl 10 times in 1969, how many times would the Jets have won?

When the Ravens signed Gary Stills as an unrestricted free agent in March, the eighth-year linebacker talked with coach Brian Billick, defensive coordinator Rex Ryan and special teams coordinator Frank Gansz Jr. But there was one person Stills eagerly sought out: fellow linebacker Terrell Suggs. Falcons@Ravens Sunday, 1 p.m., Ch. 45, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Ravens by 4 1/2 Prime numbers Jerseys pictured on PG 1D (from left to right): John Elway (7), Dan Marino (13), Joe Montana (16), Johnny Unitas (19)

MIAMI -- Persistent inquisitors wanted Peyton Manning to tell them what they wanted to hear. Manning would not cooperate. No, he kept saying, this had nothing to do with getting any animal off his back, be it a monkey or a parakeet. "I have never played that card," he said. "I don't even know what that means. I'm just proud to be on this team." They named him Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl, but was he? Did it make much sense to single out one Indianapolis player as being that much worthier than any other on a night when the defense absolutely embarrassed the Chicago offense and when Dominic Rhodes came off the bench to run for 113 yards?

When the Ravens signed Gary Stills as an unrestricted free agent in March, the eighth-year linebacker talked with coach Brian Billick, defensive coordinator Rex Ryan and special teams coordinator Frank Gansz Jr. But there was one person Stills eagerly sought out: fellow linebacker Terrell Suggs. Falcons@Ravens Sunday, 1 p.m., Ch. 45, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Ravens by 4 1/2 Prime numbers Jerseys pictured on PG 1D (from left to right): John Elway (7), Dan Marino (13), Joe Montana (16), Johnny Unitas (19)