Humble and Hungry: Marcus Mariota

By: Nima Movassaghi

Oregon Marcus Mariota isn’t your typical superstar; he’s humble, and is most likely the last person you’d expect to cause trouble. Mariota has a deep connection with his homeland, , and his relationship with his family, is very strong. His calm, cool, and collected attitude has cleared the path for a successful 2014 season. The impact that family and home have on Mariota is simply outstanding. He says that his visits home rejuvenate him for what’s ahead. Often, Mariota and his fellow Islander teammates will spot someone they may or may not know from home visiting Eugene, decked in Oregon gear from head-to-toe. Before even taking a snap at Oregon, Mariota was on the phone in tears, begging his parents to let him come home. “My parents were the first to tell you that they would never let me leave, so there was no chance of me going home.” In 2012, during a heated quarterback competition with , heading into the spring game, Mariota didn’t feel like he was relaxing on the beach; “I was pretty stressed out,” he said. On gameday, having never played in front of 44,129 fans, the nerves began to build up. “My dad always said ‘nerves aren’t too bad, you’re human,’ nerves are just what happens.” Since being named the starter at the conclusion of fall camp in 2012, fans have raved about calm, cool, and collected Mariota is. During last season’s Civil War, Oregon’s disaster November looked like it was about to get worse; the Beavers had just taken a 35-30 lead with 1:28 left in the game. Despite having a frustrating night himself, throwing 2 , Mariota took over on the Oregon 17 yard line, and marched down the field, throwing a pass to to win the game. Afterwards, something familiar came out of his mouth. “I’ve always been taught you have to be calm, cool and collected.” This season, many are projecting Mariota to win the . However, Mariota truly doesn’t want to win the award. “I’d much rather be named a Super Bowl champion, or introduced as a National Champion than a Heisman winner.” While he may not care about winning the award, some were fumed over him not being invited to the ceremony last season. “Comical,” is the word Mark Helfrich uses to describe it. “That guy turned down, a lot, a lot, a lot of money,” he said. “He’s 100% true. He’s 100% dedicated to the team, and 100% credible.” Connection to Home Mariota’s connection to home is defined by his first action on each visit home; he grew up a few minutes away from Sandy’s beach, and spent much of his free-time from football body-boarding. Because there’s no body-boarding locations in Eugene to soothe his needs, it makes returning home oh, so sweet. “Whenever I go home, that’s the first place I go.” Mariota and one of his best friends since 7th grade, safety Bronson Yim, have liked the Ducks since 8th grade or so, according to Yim. While being recruited to play at Oregon, both liked the small community, which reminded them of home. Yim appreciates Mariota’s work ethic, which he says helped guide him to greater heights. “He’s always pushed me to work toward the next level.” What Hawaii means to Marcus can be described in one quote: “It’s definitely bigger than yourself. It’s definitely bigger than you as an athlete. You always want to go out there and prove your worth, but more just represent home.” 2014 Mariota is now under the spotlight; De’Anthony Thomas departed for the NFL, and Josh Huff graduated, as did Daryle Hawkins. Without his receiving targets from his first 2 seasons, Mariota will have to prove that he’s capable of delivering passes to younger, unproven receivers. Practice reports indicate that Mariota has looked sharp, leaving no doubt that he is prepared to have a stellar season. Behind him, and in Mariota’s future are phenomenal performances. Among his best games as a Duck was his showing against Washington last season. He threw for 366 yards and 3 , along with 88 on the ground, accompanied by another score. The numbers from that game are irrelevant compared to the timing. There were several occasions in which the Huskies were creeping back into the game, and a healthy Mariota shredded their defense each time. It’s not difficult to argue that a healthy Mariota would’ve done similar things against Stanford and Arizona. However Mariota, being the humble warrior that he is, refuses to use his knee as an excuse for his late season struggles. “We’re not going to let my knee be an excuse for what happened last year,” he said, adding that him and his team can learn from it, and use it to get better. Last season’s unexpected late-season struggles didn’t have much to do with Mariota returning, though. "For me I wanted to come back and get my degree, come back and enjoy another year with the guys and experience college for another year," said Mariota at Oregon’s media day. Rejuvenated Perhaps it was his recent trip to Hawaii with his family, or maybe even the excitement of returning to college for another year—whatever it may be, Mariota seems motivated, and ready as ever to lead his Fighting Ducks to a national championship. Forget the Heisman, he’s hungry to show that his talents can lead a team to something bigger than himself. That’s just Marcus. --Nima Movassaghi