#13

We moved into our home in September of 2002. At the time, I was working in an office that did not require any type of dress code, and as a result, my wardrobe consisted of jeans, t-shirts, shorts and a suit for Shabbos.

Zwicker was over looking at the house, and he looked into our closet. I imagine the door was oof and we were painting, as he does not typically look into people's closets when they are standing there. And he was impressed with what he saw. Three quarters of the closet was taken up by Veev's clothes. On my quarter, there were seven hangars. Two suits, two dress shirts for shabbos, and three football jerseys.

Barry Sanders, Drew Bledsoe and Dan Marino.

My oldest wears the Bledsoe whenever the Patriots play. He is a huge Brady fan, and loves wearing the 2XL jersey that almost reaches the floor when he walks.

The Barry jersey is the one I am most conflicted over, still angry by Sanders' last second retirement on the eve of training camp. The Lions may have forgiven Barry, but I have not.

But it is the third jersey, the Marino one, that prompts me to write this today.

Veev and I were dating in late 1994, and someone said we could get Jets Dolphins tickets at the box office. The stadium was not out of our way, and we had nothing else to do that afternoon, so we decided to park and see if we could get tickets.

The game was sold out, and we spent much of the next hour trying to remember where we parked, before a security officer drove us through the lot and helped us find our car.

That was the closest I ever got to seeing Marino play live. In the fourth quarter that day, with the Dolphins trailing and time running out, Marino ran up to the line of scrimmage, pumping his arm, indicating he was going to spike the ball and stop the clock. The Jets defense believed Marino, and didn't cover the receiver who stood all by himself and caught the game winning touchdown.

Marino was the best quarterback I ever saw. I had Marino t-shirts Dolphin caps to go along with the aqua and orange #13 jersey. His fast release made a decent offensive line look impressive, and his precision passes and perfect touch on the ball made the Dolphins one of the most exciting teams to play in the 80s. I would watch him on Monday nights and Sunday afternoons, and he throw the ball better than anyone.

Marino never won a championship, the hallmark by which we usually judge greatness. But there is so much more than a quarterback involved in winning a Super Bowl. He never had the running game that Jim Kelly had in Buffalo, or a defense that could propel the Dolphins to the top.

I was glad to see Marino inducted to the Hall of Fame yesterday. He was, unquestionable, a first ballot hall of famer.