Marino told his wife about 'love child' in 2005 but didn't tell CBS

Dan Marino was so desperate to keep his All-American image intact that he told no one but his wife that he had fathered a baby out-of-wedlock with a CBS production assistant back in 2005.  The former NFL quarterback never told his bosses at CBS Sports or even his longtime lawyer-agent about the baby for seven years until Wednesday.

Marino, the shamed CBS Sports football analyst, paid his mistress Donna Savaterre hush money and even signed several lucrative contracts with the network over that period until he confessed about the love tryst that produced the now seven-year-old girl named Chloe,  a source told The New York Post.

"Danny did, as difficult as it was, tell his wife in 2005, when this occurred," said a source close to Marino, referring to Claire Marino, who has six children with the Hall of Famer.

Marino, who has been an analyst for CBS's "The NFL Today" since 2003, kept his longtime lawyer-agent Marvin Demoff on the sidelines while he paid the hush money to Savaterre — amounts that are reportedly in the range of millions of dollars.

"CBS was not involved in any way, shape or form back in 2005," when Marino made the deal with Savaterre using another lawyer," the source said.

When asked about when CBS heard about the affair, a network spokeswoman Jen Sabatelle said, "CBS Sports executives first learned of this yesterday [Wed.]."

The 51-year-old Marino also told Demoff about the hush money deal on Wednesday, telling him he hired other people to handle the payout to Savaterre, now 40.

The Marino source said he believed Marino did not use Demoff to negotiate the deal with his mistress because of "embarrassment" over his adultery.

Marino's explosive scandal comes right before CBS is set to broadcast Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday in New Orleans.  The network said Marino will still be a part of the Super Bowl pre-game show.

"Dan has said all there is to say on this matter and he'll be in his usual role on our broadcast Super Bowl Sunday," Sabatelle told USA Today.