Dan Marino names John Elway on his list of Mt. Rushmore of NFL QBs

Goat recognizes Goat. I mean, we’re not surprised, but it’s pretty dang cool.

Former Miami Dolphins legend and Hall of Famer, Dan Marino, was recently asked to name his four picks for the Mount Rushmore of NFL Quarterbacks, and he instead named three… one of them being our very own John Elway.

The duo of friendly rivals (or rivaling friends?) dates all the way back to the 1983 NFL Draft, when Elway was selected first overall and Marino 27th. These selections highlighted that draft class and precipitated three face-offs between the quarterbacks — two of them ending in a loss for Denver, but a third ending in a postseason victory that would take them to the AFC Championship (oh yeah, and a Super Bowl win).

Both quarterbacks shaped the modern age of the NFL, leaving perennial legacies as well as records that would hold up for years to come. And they weren’t alone.

Alongside Elway, Marino gave nods to QBs Joe Montana and Jim Kelly.

“To me, [Joe] Montana and Elway, Jim Kelly, all those guys. That’s three,” he said, “I feel like I could play with all those guys.”

Marino didn’t give himself the fourth spot on Mt. Rushmore, insisting that someone else would have to name him; but each of the three quarterbacks were particularly special to him throughout his career.

“The rivalry is the competitiveness, just wanting to win. Then the friendship and camaraderie between the guys — it’s always been there for me with John and Jim… mutual respect, love for the game, all that,” he said, noting that it’s a complex feeling of being happy for them “but at the same time, you want to kick their ass.”

“Unless you’re not a competitor, which, I feel like I was a highly competitive person,” he added.

I would’ve been about a year and a half old when this game was played, and it just makes me think about the generations of players who have graced the league and future ones who will carry the torch forward, like how WR Ed McCaffrey wouldn’t have known back then that his son would one day appear in a Super Bowl. Or the way roles can morph and our heroes take on new forms, the way John Elway couldn’t have known that he’d later become the general manager of a team he so fearlessly led to two consecutive victories.

I know that’s how the world works in most industries; but I can’t help but think something about it is really beautiful.