NATCHEZ — Saturday wasn’t the first time Dan Marino had ever been to Natchez, but things have changed quite a bit for the Hall-of-Fame quarterback since the last time he was in town.

“I came here 28 years ago when I was a sophomore at (the University of Pittsburgh),” Marino said. “My mother came with me, and it was the first time she had ever been on a plane. Life has changed a bit since then.”

While life has changed for Marino, the circumstances for him coming to Natchez are very similar. Both times it was to help honor College Football Hall-of-Famer and Natchez native Hugh Green.

After attending Hugh Green Day in 1981, following the conclusion of Green’s college career, Marino was in town Saturday at the Hugh Green Celebrity Golf Tournament at Beau Pré Country Club to celebrate his friend’s induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

“Hugh has been a long-time friend, and I wanted to come down and support him,” Marino said. “He is a great athlete out of Mississippi, and there’s no question he deserves his place in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.”

Marino was just one of several celebrities participating in the golf tournament Saturday.

Former NFL wide receiver Mark Duper was also there, as was Jackie Sherrill, who coached Green at Pitt, and later coached at Texas A&M and Mississippi State.

Money raised from the tournament went to the Ronald McDonald House in Jackson and the Boys and Girls Club of the Miss-Lou.

Sherrill said Green was the best college defensive player he ever saw, and questioned why it took as long as it did for him to be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

“One-hundred years from now, he’ll still be on the first team all time defensive player list,” Sherrill said. “He was a pleasure to coach. He only had one speed in practice or in games. I think his induction is long overdue for a player of his caliber who has done what he has done.”