The Post’s Steve Serby chatted with legendary Dolphins QB Dan Marino, who will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame today:
Q: You picked your son Dan to be your presenter.
A: He’s been involved in acting, theater, television his whole young life, he’s going to college for that, so I’m sure he’ll be able to handle it fine.
Q: Your son Michael (diagnosed with autism as a tot)?
A: He’s overcome so much. I look back at where he could be and where some other kids in his situation are at his age . . . he worked hard at it. He’s a smart, young kid, he’s playing quarterback on the football team . . . he always has a knack of saying the right thing to his mother, to me. He’s a loving, caring person.
Q: Your dad delivered newspapers at midnight for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
A: He worked nighttime for the Post-Gazette, filling coin boxes.
Q: Describe your dad.
A: A fun guy to be with. But I learned from his work ethic and his love for his family. He’s a guy who everybody would want to sit down and have a beer with. He’s just a good person.
Q: Did you tell him as a kid, “Dad, I want to one day be a quarterback in the NFL?”
A; I remember him (telling) me that if I loved the game, if I worked hard, that I had the talent athletically to be as good as I wanted to be.
Q: How did you propose to your wife Claire?
A: I proposed to Claire at LaGuardia Airport.
Q: Why was that?
A: ‘Cause it was after a Jets game and she came up here on a trip. It was my second year in the league, and I was going back to Florida, and she had to go back to school, and I said, ‘Why don’t you just come back with me instead of going back to school?’ ”
Q: What one trait sold you on her?
A: Her heart and how she cares for other people.
Q: Describe Coach Shula to a Martian who just landed.
A: Strong-minded; he was intense every day that I worked with him for 13 years, and his will to win would overtake the team.
Q: Quarterbacks you enjoyed watching while you played?
A: John Elway, Jim Kelly, Joe Montana.
Q: Quarterbacks you enjoy watching now?
A: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Michael Vick.
Q: What was your draft-day reaction when the Jets picked Ken O’Brien over you?
A: My reaction was, “Who’s Ken O’Brien?”
Q: Were you hoping to play in New York at that point?
A: At that point I just wanted to get drafted.
Q: Eli Manning?
A: Eli has the potential to be a great, great quarterback for a long time. When he gets more talent around him, it’ll show.
Q: Favorite childhood memory?
A: The many days that I spent catching footballs with my dad, just the two of us.
Q: In the backyard?
A: In the street, really; we didn’t have much of a backyard.
Q: You played games in the street with your friends?
A: Telephone pole to telephone pole were the touchdowns; there were cars and there were buses coming by; you had to play in between the traffic . . . I think that’s where I kinda learned my competitive spirit.
Q: You would throw the ball at the telephone poles too, right?
A: Yup; stop signs; would hit the bus every now and then going by.
Q: The Fake Spike against the Jets?
A: After the excitement of actually making the pass and winning the game, I noticed how quiet the stadium became. From they’re going crazy to, within one minute, total silence.
Q: Describe what the feeling was like for you in 1984 when you stepped on the field.
A: We had a feeling as a group offensively that we couldn’t be stopped. I don’t know if it was arrogance, but I knew that they couldn’t cover us.
Q: The Monday night game against the unbeaten ’85 Bears?
A: What I remember most is the excitement in the Orange Bowl, what a tough job it would be to beat probably the best defense to ever play. And the fun that I had afterward.
Q: Your torn Achilles in ’93?
A: The toughest thing that I ever had to come back from because it’s your plant foot . . . I think I had to adjust my style of play because of the injury.
Q: Duper and Clayton?
A: They always said that they made me a star, and they were probably right.
Q: How does it feel to have your mug on Iron City beer cans all week?
A: I’m proud (smiles), very proud. ‘Cause I had a few over the years, and now I’m on the can.
Q: Richard Petty Driving Experience in ’99?
A: I got up to 165, actually.
Q; What was that like?
A: It felt like I was in a rocket. One thing for sure, though: when I started into the turns I took my foot off the gas (laughs).
Q: Your hole-in-one two years ago?
A: It was an 8-iron from I think 165 yards. It was the seventh hole at Grand Oaks, which is a private club in Fort Lauderdale.
Q: You acted in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and “Holy Man”: who’s funnier, Jim Carrey or Eddie Murphy?
A: Jim Carrey.
Q: One person in history you would like to meet?
A: JFK.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, so they could help me with my golf swing after dinner.
Q: Three wishes?
A: I wish I would have won a Super Bowl; that all my kids’ dreams would be fulfilled in life; wish I could still play.
Q: Best piece of advice your father gave you?
A: My dad always told me to treat people how I want to be treated.
Q: Favorite athlete outside football?
A: Willie Stargell. He lived next door to my grandmother when I was a kid; Cal Ripken for the consistency to be able to play every day; Michael Jordan, six championships.
Q: Idol growing up?
A: Joe Namath.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” (laughs); “Remember The Titans.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Clint Eastwood.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Catherine Zeta-Jones, ’cause I played golf with her.
Q: Favorite musician?
A: Hootie & The Blowfish.
Q: Regrets?
A: I would still say the regret I have is not winning a Super Bowl, not knowing what that felt like.
Q: How do you want Dolphin and NFL fans to remember you?
A: That I loved the game, played with passion; played hard and took pride in my job each and every day.
