NFL Hall of Famer and former Miami Dolphins Quarterback Dan Marino fathered a child with a CBS employee and then paid her millions to keep it quiet, according to media reports.
Marino, a pregame analyst for CBS since 2003 and regarded as one of professional sports’ most well-regarded veterans, had a relationship with Donna Savattere, a 35-year-old production assistant at CBS Sports, the New York Post reports. Savattere gave birth to their daughter, Chloe, in June 2005.
In a statement, Marino admitted his involvement and said he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
“This is a personal and private matter,” he said in the statement. “I take full responsibility both personally and financially for my actions now as I did then. We mutually agreed to keep our arrangement private to protect all parties involved.”
Marino has six children with his wife of 28 years and insists his marriage remains intact despite the affair, saying “we continue to be a strong and loving family.”
Savattere has since remarried to a man she met in the Bahamas. The child would have been born two months prior to his Hall of Fame induction.
