Dan Marino, who tore his Achilles like Aaron Rodgers 30 years ago, details return from injury

The highly anticipated debut of Aaron Rodgers as a New York Jet was short-lived, ending before it ever really took off.

On the fourth snap of New York’s season opener against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium on Monday night, Rodgers sustained a season-ending torn Achilles.

For many Jets fans, it brought back unwanted memories of quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who also tore his Achilles in the season opener of the 1999 season, sidelining him for a campaign that also high grand expectations.

In South Florida, football fans have also experienced the pain of an Achilles injury to the game’s most important position.

In Week 6 of the 1993 season, Dolphins great and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino ruptured his right Achilles tendon in a road game against the Cleveland Browns. ending what was a promising start to Miami’s campaign. The Dolphins, who lost in the AFC Championship Game the previous year, were 3-1 at the time of Marino’s injury but were 9-2 with about a month left in the season. Miami, though, lost its final five games and missed the playoffs.

In a recent interview with Omaha Productions’ Kevin Clark, Marino spoke about Rodgers’ injury and the long rehab process that he had to take on 30 years ago.

“It’s tough. I went through that Achilles thing,” Marino said. “You never know when it’s going to happen. It’s a rare injury, but when it happens, it’s devastating. And he worked so hard in this offseason and all the things he was doing to continue his career somewhere else and you feel bad for him.”

Marino, 62, noted that medical advancements have made it easier to return from Achilles tears but called it a “very tedious rehab” and said he still feels the effects of the injury

“It didn’t actually heal all the way,” he said. “It was elongated, so I had to deal with not being able to get up on my toe for the rest of my career, basically. That’s why I used to wear that boot you saw and a lot of people see it in pictures. That helped me kind of move. But I was able to deal with it. You just adjust. You adjust to your body. You adjust to the situation. You adapt to it and I guarantee Aaron Rodgers, if he still wants to play, will be able to deal with that.”

Marino was 32 when he tore his Achilles but returned to play six more seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1994 and 1995 before retiring after the 1999 season.

After 18 years with the Green Bay Packers, a tenure that included 10 Pro Bowls, four All-Pro selections, four league Most Valuable Player awards and a Super Bowl, Rodgers contemplated retirement. But he ultimately decided to continue his career and requested a trade to the Jets, which after several months was finally granted. New York was a trendy pick to not only win the AFC East but the conference but will now turn back to Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2021 Draft who was benched last season.

Given Rodgers’ age, many have speculated whether this injury has brought to an end what is a first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Rodgers posted to social media on Thursday that he had a successful surgery. In a separate post, he wrote: “The night is darkest before the dawn. And I shall rise yet again.”

Jets coach Robert Saleh told New York reporters that he would be “shocked if this is the way [Rodgers is] going to go out.”

Marino also said Rodgers is the current quarterback whose style most resembles him. And as Marino watches today’s NFL, the quarterback who once threw for 5,084 yards in 1984 — an incredible feat given the time — would relish the opportunity to pass in an era that now welcomes it.

“Yes, we’d throw for 6.000 yards,” Marino said with a laugh.