30 greatest players to never win a Super Bowl

3. Dan Marino, QB, Miami Dolphins

You could make a case he was the greatest passer in the long storied history of the National Football League. Some would also say he was the best performer ever at his position. In any case, it is a topic where opinions vary a lot more and understandably so. Here the emphasis is on passing because there have been few players if any who could get rid of the football with more speed and accuracy than the magnificent Dan Marino.

After eventually becoming the Miami Dolphins starting signal-caller as a rookie in 1983 with nine games to go (and helped lead the team to the playoffs), he attacked the 1984 NFL campaign in unimaginable fashion. To see it was to actually appreciate it. He began the season with a five-touchdown pass performance against the two-time NFC champion Redskins at Washington.

It would end with a then-record 5,084 yards through the air and an amazing 48 aerial scores. Marino and the 14-2 Dolphins would wind up facing the 15-1 San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. It proved to be no contest as Bill Walsh’s team rolled to a 38-16 triumph as the Niners’ defense had its way with the second-year signal-caller.

There would be a total of 17 seasons, 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdown tosses. Unfortunately for the Pro Football Hall of Fame hurler, there was also that lone Super Bowl appearances. The Dolphins would reach the AFC Championship Game in 1985 and again in 1992, only to come up short both times at home.

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