ESPN’s fine documentary series 30 for 30 has produced another winner in Marino to Elway, an insider’s view of the 1983 NFL draft. That year, an astonishing six QBs were picked in the first round, including Hall of Famers John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly. That crop of QBs would lead the AFC Super Bowl teams in eleven of the next sixteen years. The impact to NFL history aside, the draft contained some forehead slapping individual stories:
- Elway’s threat to play baseball for the New York Yankees if he were drafted by the Baltimore Colts;
- five QBs getting drafted ahead of Marino, whose stock dropped because of inaccurate rumors of drug use;
- Jim Kelly swearing that he would never play in Buffalo and jumping to the USFL’s Houston Gamblers;
- Steeler first round pick Gabriel Rivera, an amazingly fast defensive tackle who paralyzed himself in a drunk driving accident after just 6 games in the NFL;
- plus an assortment of draft busts and the machinations of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and Raiders owner Al Davis.
Elway and Marino were represented by the same agent, Marvin Demoff, who kept a daily journal. That journal, plus interviews with Demoff, Elway and Marino, is the core of the movie. But there are also interviews with Colts General Manager Ernie Accorsi, and first-rounders Rivera, Ken O’Brien, Todd Blackledge, Chris Hinton and Jimbo Covert.
It was a great story in 1983, and Elway to Marino fills in the blanks with nugget after nugget. It’s a must see for NFL fans.