There isn’t always a next time in majors

SITTING here at Augusta National, an arena that serves as a sort of shrine to golf, it may seem an inappropriate time to discuss football – the one played with a pigskin sphere not a round ball and feet – but afford me the opportunity to explain why Dan Marino comes to mind.

It was in 1983 when Marino, a celebrated collegiate quarterback, entered the pro football ranks and settled in with one of the glamour teams of that time, the Miami Dolphins.

Led by arguably one of the greatest coaches in that sport’s history, Don Shula, the only piece missing to make the Dolphins the best was a quarterback and oh, how Marino came through.