Under The Sun

Dan Marino

There’s Dan Marino, the football hall-of-famer. And then there’s Dan Marino the graphic and web designer. Ever wonder how fast you can get a restaurant reservation with a name like that?

Marino (the graphic designer) was born in Fort Lauderdale and moved to New York at age five.  As an adult, he spent 25 years in Austin, Texas, and then came full circle, moving to Miami Beach four years ago. He agreed to answer five questions about living with his famous name for Under the Sun.

Come on! Is that really your name? What were your parents thinking?

Yes, my name is really Dan Marino. Not sure what my parents were thinking, but my father was a diehard Dolphins fan so it was nice he had a “son” on his favorite team. He is originally a New Yorker, but we were living in Fort Lauderdale back in 1960 and that’s when my father started his DolFan tenure. My father was a big Don Shula fan as well. For his birthday one year, I asked Don Shula to write a letter to my father. He did and coach Shula actually joked that it was nice to be able to send a letter to a father of one of his players. I had it framed and my father loved it.

Who was born first? You or the real Dan Marino?

He is the first born. So I guess I am his Twin Peaks doppelganger. My mother still regrets giving us both the same name, but if George Foreman can do it, why can’t she.

Does it bother you that you’re not the real Dan Marino?

Actually, I am the real Dan Marino. I have thought of running for political office on name recognition alone just to see if I could get elected. If anything I would prove once and for all that people do not really know or understand who they are voting for.

What is one of the strangest interactions you’ve had since moving back to South Florida when introducing yourself?

This is not so much strange as it is idiotic. I was introduced to someone at a party. He was pretty drunk and he actually asked me if I was Dan Marino’s brother. I just looked at him and said, “Yes.”  We bumped fists and he walked away.

We always end with the same question: In three words, how do you describe the experience of living in South Florida?

Eclectic. International. Beautiful.