Halleys Comet is visible from Earth about once every 75 years. The natural phenomenon we are seeing right now in the NFL, something also seen by looking up, isnt quite as rare but close enough. Its last occurrence was almost 35 years ago.
Pro football has not been gifted with a quarterback as young and immediately successful and dynamically electric as Patrick Mahomes since Dan Marino put the swoon over Miami as the promise of 1983 bloomed into an unprecedented 84.
Mahomes made his first career NFL start at age 22 years 105 days and Marino at 22 years 24 days.
The stardom of both first-round draft picks was so instantly evident that the Kansas City Chiefs quickly traded five-year starter Alex Smith, just as the three decades earlier the Dolphins traded away David Woodley who led Miami to the previous seasons Super Bowl just three months before Marino was drafted.
By age 23 Marino was the league MVP after throwing for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns, both shattering NFL records. His passer rating was 108.9.
At age 23 Mahomes is the consensus midseason favorite to win MVP. His projected totals are 5,157 yards, 51 TDs and a 116.7 rating.
Mahomes, 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, answers to The Gunslinger. Marino, 6-4 and 225, was that archetype long before Brett Favre came along. You could argue Marino grand-marshaled the NFLs pass-happy era.
Mahomes and Marino both were as good in baseball as they were in football, by the way. They were selected in the 2014 and 1979 MLB drafts, respectively.
Each passer blossomed in his second NFL season, although Marino got a longer look as a rookie. After Woodley started the first five games, with a couple of Marino appearances off the bench, the ball was handed from one to the other on Oct. 9, 1983, the first career start for No. 13, the curly haired kid from Pitt.
He threw for 322 yards and three TDs.
I asked Don Shula once what was going through his mind as he watched Marino start for the first time in the seasons sixth game.
What took me so long! Shula said with an impish grin. Why didnt I give him the ball sooner! He was that special right away.
It isnt widely known that Shula had Marino call all his own plays during training-camp practices and in preseason games in 83 to accelerate his progress.
Made me study a lot harder, Marino said.
Miamis instant star led the Dolphins to the Super Bowl that 84 season, though the Fins lost. He thought he would be back plenty. He never got back again. That he failed to deliver the franchises first championship since 1973 remained the only permanent smudge on Marinos Hall-of-Fame resume.
