Legendary NFL quarterback Dan Marino recently opened up about a serious health issue he has been dealing with.
Marino spoke with PEOPLE and revealed that he was diagnosed with MASH, a serious liver disease, back in 2007.
The Pittsburgh native went in for a routine checkup at the time and learned that he had MASH, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
“I wasn’t really working out as much as I should — because I used to work out when I played all the time and I kind of got away from that a little bit,” Dan Marino told PEOPLE. “The doctors right away said that can be reversible, it can be taken care of, but, mainly for me, they were saying, like, ‘You got to work out. You got to lose weight.'”
Dan Marino has changed his lifestyle since being diagnosed with MASH.
He told PEOPLE that he exercises more and eats healthier now than he did before he was diagnosed.
“It’s the exercise, riding bike, walking, and diet, and then getting back to just being consistent — waking up and making sure you gotta do something every day,” he said.
Marino is opening up about being diagnosed with the liver disease so that he can help others who might be battling the same thing.
“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,” he said.
Dan Marino grew up in Pittsburgh and played college football at Pitt before being drafted in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.
He went on to be one of the best QBs in NFL History, winning the NFL MVP award in 1984, leading the NFL in passing yards five times and making the Pro Bowl nine times.
Marino ranks No. 9 all-time in NFL passing yards, but he has been criticized for not winning a Super Bowl during his career.
As for MASH, it is “a severe form of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease that develops when fat buildup in the liver causes inflammation and scarring. Conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides (a type of fat), and high LDL-cholesterol increase the likelihood of developing it,” according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
The FDA adds that “MASH is a progressive disease that can lead to cirrhosis (severe liver scarring), hepatic decompensation (worsening of liver function), liver cancer, liver transplantation, or death.”