Quick Kicks

Dan still The Man

Miami’s Dan Marino became the first NFL player to throw 400 career touchdown passes Sunday when he hit O.J. McDuffie with a 7-yard scoring toss in a 30-10 win over New Orleans.

Marino, the NFL’s career leader in every significant passing category, hit McDuffie with three scoring passes on the day, giving him 401 for his career.

Fran Tarkenton is second on the career list with 342 touchdown passes in 18 seasons. Marino, now in his 16th season, passed Tarkenton’s mark on Nov. 26, 1995, at Indianapolis.

Marino also is the career leader in passing attempts, completions and yardage. He owns 24 NFL records in all and shares seven others.

Marino’s 401 touchdown passes have gone to 50 receivers. Mark Clayton, who came into the league with Marino in 1983 and retired in 1992, leads the list with 79.

Mark Duper caught 55 TDs from Marino and Nat Moore had 24. McDuffie is the top active player with 21 TD catches, fourth on the overall list.

No flippin’ controversies

The strategy for the coin toss was clear: Make up your mind and speak clearly.

There wasn’t a single flip flap on Sunday, the way there was at the start of overtime Thursday in the Pittsburgh-Detroit game.

The most creative moment was in St. Louis, where Atlanta’s Jessie Tuggle showed up for the opening ceremony with a placard that said “heads,” so referee Ron Winter would have no confusion. The Falcons won the toss, elected to receive and drove to an opening field goal against the St. Louis Rams.

In Oakland, referee Ron Blum asked Darrell Green of Washington to call the toss. Green called “heads” and after he did, Blum turned to him and asked: “Are you sure?”

Green nodded his head, Blum flipped, it came out heads and the Redskins elected to receive.

And in Chicago, after someone called “tails,” the Bears’ Marty Carter jokingly said “I heard heads.”

Rust never sleeps

Under the lights of the Trans World Dome and the weight of his first start this season, Tony Graziani, a former quarterback for the Oregon Ducks, insists he did not succumb to stage fright. Rather, it was rust. Apparently, a lot of it.

With starting quarterback Chris Chandler unable to play because of a badly sprained right ankle, coach Dan Reeves elected to start the 24-year-old Graziani over Steve DeBerg, 20 years his senior, in part because of the youngster’s ability to avoid an aggressive pass rush. And for the most part, Graziani did just that.

However, much more goes into being a quality quarterback in the NFL, and it was evident that Graziani remains in the learning stage. His numbers were not awful: 8 for 18, 102 yards, one interception. But they were not enough for Reeves to allow him to continue beyond the first half.

And so, although leading 3-0 at the break, Reeves benched the kid and called on the sage.

“Coach told me to stay ready, to keep my head up,” Graziani said. “And I did. It would have been difficult to do if we were losing. But Steve did a great job and we’re 10-2. How can I not be happy?”

The last word …

“I was in their home turf and acting kind of like an idiot. And I’m sure (Brett Favre) got fired up about that.” - Philadelphia’s Koy Detmer on his move to taunt the Packers after his second TD.