Dan Marino is famous for his touchdowns — but the Hall of Famer’s scoring off the field is downright shocking.
The married gridiron great — a pregame analyst for CBS since 2003 who will be doing this Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast — sired a love child with a network underling and then paid her millions to keep quiet, sources have exclusively told The Post.
The ex-Miami Dolphin QB — who has long had an image as one of pro sports’ most squeaky-clean guys — knocked up Donna Savattere, a then-35-year-old production assistant at CBS Sports’ Manhattan studio.
Adriel Reboh/Patrick McMullan.com
CUTIE: Donna Savattere with Chloe, her daughter from an affair with NFL great Dan Marino.
She gave birth to their daughter, Chloe, in June 2005.
“They had an affair, and she had a baby,” said a source. “Everything was on the down-low and secretive.”
News of the affair and child comes as Marino is set to work Sunday’s big “Super Bowl Today” telecast.
He and other former NFL greats, such as Boomer Esiason and Shannon Sharpe, will jaw about the big game for hours before the 6:30 p.m. kickoff between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. The revelation could make for some awkward moments during the long broadcast, which starts at 2 p.m.
Marino yesterday admitted to his dalliance.
“This is a personal and private matter. I take full responsibility both personally and financially for my actions now as I did then,” he told The Post in a written statement. “We mutually agreed to keep our arrangement private to protect all parties involved.”
New York Post
Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino had an affair with a CBS employee and later paid the woman millions of dollars to support their daughter, sources say.
At the time of the affair and Chloe’s birth, Marino was married to his wife of 20 years, Claire, with whom he had six kids, including four sons and two adopted daughters.
The birth of baby Chloe came about two months before Marino’s Hall of Fame induction — at which his son Daniel made what danmarino.com called “a moving tribute to his father.”
Marino insisted that his marriage is still intact, despite the affair.
“My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years and have six children together,” he wrote yesterday — which happened to be his 28th wedding anniversary.
“And we continue to be a strong and loving family.”
Marino agreed to pay Savattere millions to care for Chloe, sources say, and she moved to Texas as part of the deal.
It’s not clear exactly how much Marino paid. But after getting the dough, Savattere apparently started living large.
She soon returned to New York from the Lone Star State, splitting her time between the Upper West Side and the Hamptons, where she became a fixture on the social scene.
She was even snapped by society photographers such as Patrick McMullan and New York Social Diary.
The source said that Marino, 51, has been in touch with his now-7-year-old daughter.
“They would have impromptu meetings, which was part of the deal,” a source said.
“Donna was always saying she had to go meet with her lawyers to go over the scheduling and other issues.”
A source said that Savaterre confided to close pals that the father was Marino and showed them photographs of her and the quarterback together at restaurants and clubs.
She later married Nahill Younis, whom she met in the Bahamas in 2009.
She also petitioned to change the name of her and Marino’s daughter from Chloe Alexis Savattere to Chloe Alexis Younis, according to records.
A wedding announcement for the couple on a Hamptons Web site says: “Donna was already a mother when Nahill met her, and Donna’s daughter quickly became an important part of his life.”
She and Younis have since had a child together.
Donna was previously married to a New Jersey state trooper, a source said. But that source added that the marriage ended before the brief fling with Marino began.
Reps for Younis declined to comment.
In addition to his Super Bowl appearance this weekend, Marino will be featured in an ESPN documentary this spring.
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