Former Miami Dolphins director of player personnel Chuck Connor died earlier this month at the age of 87, according to his family.
Connor joined the Dolphins in 1979 after beginning his NFL career as a scout with the Pittsburgh Steelers and BLESTO, a joint scouting service. During Connor’s tenure, the Dolphins continued to be a perennial winner with head coach Don Shula, but didn’t win another Lombardi Trophy, despite Super Bowl appearances in the 1982 and 1984 seasons.
With Connor leading the Dolphins’ personnel department, the team made one of the most consequential draft selections in its history when it took Dan Marino at No. 27 overall in 1983.
“Chuck’s the guy who made me draft Dan (Marino),” Dolphins legendary coach Don Shula once told the Sun-Sentinel. “Dan’s slipping and slipping, for whatever reason, and we realize he’s going to be there for us to take. I say, ‘We’ve got to take him.’ (Defensive coordinator) Bill Arnsparger says, ‘We’ve got to have a defensive lineman.’
“I remember going out in the hall with Chuck and he says, ‘We’ve got to take Marino.’ Turns out the defensive lineman we were going to take was there for us in the second round. Mike Charles. … So Dan was a bonus pick.”
Connor later became the director of pro scouting with the Atlanta Falcons where he stayed until 1995.
