Dan Marino, perhaps better than any player in NFL history, understands how precious championship windows are. Marino went to his first and only Super Bowl in 1984, his second season with the Miami Dolphins. Marino played well, but he and the Dolphins ultimately came up short against Joe Montana and the 49ers in Super Bowl XIX, his lone appearance in the big game.
Marino's story is similar to the one that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is currently living out. For all his greatness, Jackson has yet to play in a Super Bowl. He can do that, however, if he is able to beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in his first AFC Championship start. Marino feels that Jackson is more than up to the task.
"My advice is to let if flow," Marino told CBS Sports when asked what advice he would give Jackson for Sunday's game. "Enjoy yourself. He is an incredible athlete. He's a great player. He'll probably be MVP. Just let it go. Use your teammates, and understand that there's an opportunity that you might not get again, and get there. Get to the Super Bowl. Do whatever it takes.
"He's been very impressive this year. They have a really good chance, a really good chance to win it all."
Based on how he's played this season, Jackson will likely mimic Marino's advice when it comes to doing "whatever it takes" to win Sunday's game. One of Jackson's biggest strengths has been his ability to give the Ravens offense what it needs to win each week. Sometimes, that means a 300-yard passing performance. Other times, it's required Jackson to run for 100 yards.
Both were required of Jackson during Baltimore's divisional round win over the Houston Texans. With Baltimore's defense shutting down C.J. Stroud and the Texans offense, Jackson didn't take many risks in the passing game. He threw for just 152 yards, but 100 of those yards came in the second half. He completed a whopping 72.3% of his passes that included his 15-yard scoring strike to tight end isaiah Likely that gave Baltimore a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.
As Marino himself alluded to, Jackson is an incredible athlete whose versatility makes him one of the league's most dangerous players with the ball in his hands. For example, Jackson's touchdown pass to Likely on Sunday was in part set up by his 14-yard run moments earlier on a fourth-and-1 play.
Jackson's willingness to do whatever it takes will surely be an asset on Sunday. So too is Jackson's likely understanding of how rare these opportunities are. It's taken Jackson six years to get to this point, and there's no telling when or if he will get this opportunity again.
While Jackson is trying to win his first Super Bowl ring, Marino recently partnered up with the "M&M's Ring of Comfort" promotion along with fellow Hall of Famers Bruce Smith and Terrell Owens. The trio celebrated the unique ring in a commercial that will air during Super Bowl LVIII, which you can catch on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 11.
The rings are 14K gold and actually include specially created diamonds made from real peanut butter M&M's candies.
"It's just a fun message about guys like myself, Bruce, TO, and a lot of guys -- Hall of Famers, too -- who played hard throughout their whole career and didn't win," Marino said of the promotion. "This is a way they can have some fun with it and get a ring, a diamond ring which is made of M&M peanut butter. It's exciting and a fun commercial."
