Second Thoughts

Hall of famer now passing time with wine

Former NFL player Damon Huard is joining Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino in the winemaking business.
Former NFL player Damon Huard is joining Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino in the winemaking business.

Damon Huard's career after football is in the cellar, with help from a Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback.

The former University of Washington and NFL quarterback with the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs has teamed up with former Dolphins teammate Dan Marino and award-winning winemaker Chris Peterson to take part in a winemaking company called Passing Time in Woodinville, Wash., which is 20 miles from Seattle.

When Huard and Marino were teammates from 1997-2000, Marino would have Huard over for dinner, according to the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune.

Marino joked to the newspaper how he got Huard to go from being a "rum and Coke guy" to someone who is now in the wine business.

"I'd give him some Washington wine. Things like Col Solare or Quilceda Creek," Marino said of his dinner meetings with Huard in the late 1990s. "I'm like, 'Dude. You know this is right in your backyard and you don't know anything about it.' "

Huard, 44, was a three-year starter for Washington from 1993-1995. As a junior in 1994, Huard engineered the Huskies' 38-20 victory over Miami in 1994, which ended the Hurricanes' NCAA record 58-game winning streak at the Orange Bowl.

In addition to his winemaking company, Huard is the color analyst on Washington's football radio broadcasts.

According to the News Tribune, Passing Time's 2014 Red Cabernet Sauvignon recently received a 92 rating and was given an 'Editor's Choice' designation by Wine Enthusiast. The assessment falls within the 90-93 range which the publications deems to be "excellent" and "highly recommended." The company sources its content from several vineyards in eastern Washington.

"It's like the stars have aligned with the winemaker we were able to get in Chris Peterson, the fruit I'm able to get from these older, established vineyards over in eastern Washington were my dad grew up and my great-grandparents grew grapes in the early 1900's," Huard said. "Now we're making about 1,500 cases and we've been so spoiled with our reviews and our loyal customer base that has made this whole thing happen."

MLB in Oregon?

Could Major League Baseball happen in Portland, Ore.?

According to John Canzano of The Oregonian, an ownership group focused on bringing MLB to the Rose City has met with city officials to discuss stadium plans.

"The [Oakland] A's, who are seeking a new stadium, have emerged as a possible candidate for relocation to Portland in the last few months. It makes sense. They'd stay in the West. They've been forced to seek alternatives for a new stadium site after their initial choice in Oakland, a plot of land near downtown, became unavailable when talks broke down between the A's and the Peralta Community College District," wrote Canzano.

"The latest plan in Oakland involves the possibility of using an aerial tram as a mode of transportation from downtown Oakland into a new stadium on the waterfront.

"Aerial tram?

"Portland already has one of those, yeah?"

If the A's were to leave Oakland, the city would be left with no professional sports teams. The NFL's Raiders are moving to Las Vegas in 2020, while the NBA's Golden State Warriors will move across the Bay to the new Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019.

photo

AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino

Sports on 04/17/2018

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