Dan Marino is a name sports fans and non-fans know very well. The now 63-year-old made his career as a quarterback for the Miami Dolphins for 17 seasons before announcing his retirement from the sport in 2000.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Marino opens up about his recent health struggle and being diagnosed with liver disease. After a routine checkup in 2007, he learned he had Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH. It’s formerly known as a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The NFL legend was feeling a “little fatigued,” but chalked it up to him not exercising as much as he should, especially when he was so used to an intense regimen as a footballer.
During the doctor’s visit, they told him he had a fatty liver, where excess fat cells could cause chronic inflammation and lead to cirrhosis and possible liver cancer. The good news? Marino was told right away that it was reversible.
“The doctors right away said that can be reversible, it can be taken care of, but, mainly for me, they were saying, like, ‘You gotta work out. You got to lose weight,'” explained Marino.
Wanting to change his diagnosis, Marino got right to work and explained, as part of Novo Nordisk’s Unordinary Stories campaign, his consistent regimen from working out to his diet. He trains with former teammate Terry Kirby at a local gym, and goes on nightly walks and bike rides with his wife.
For Marino, it’s all about keeping his health on a “consistent basis” and making sure he gets his workout in, even if it’s as simple as walking. But the NFL star does admit that his diet is partially to blame.
He explains that after retirement, things changed. As a football athlete, he had to stay in tip-top shape, dealing with “weight-ins, all those kinds of things.” But after leaving the sport, “I kind of let my diet go … that’s really where it kind of came about.”
Now on the Mediterranean diet, he cuts back on sweets, wine, pizza, and food groups that don’t do the body any justice. He also gets yearly check ups to keep tabs on his condition.
Marino openly shares his health struggle to let people know that “if you get diagnosed with fatty liver and MASH, doing the things you need to do, like I talked about — diet, working out — and staying consistent with it, that’s what our message really is.”
