Marcus Mariota


Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota is an American professional football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks. In 2014, Mariota became the first player at the school and the first Hawaii-born athlete to win the Heisman Trophy.
Mariota was selected second overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL draft and led the team to three consecutive winning seasons from 2016 to 2018. He was replaced as starting quarterback by Ryan Tannehill after six games in the 2019 season. In 2020, Mariota signed with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he was a backup for two seasons before signing with the Atlanta Falcons in 2022, where he started for most of the season. Mariota spent the 2023 season as a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Commanders in 2024.

Early life

Mariota was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 30, 1993, to Alana Deppe-Mariota and Toa Mariota. He is of Samoan descent on his father's side and German descent on his mother's side. Mariota grew up admiring the quarterback play of fellow Samoan Jeremiah Masoli, who was also a standout quarterback at the Saint Louis School and the University of Oregon. Mariota describes himself as a dedicated Christian. Mariota has a younger brother, Matt, who also played football at Oregon, primarily on special teams.
Mariota attended the Saint Louis School in Honolulu, where he was a two-sport star in football and track. In football, Mariota was relatively unknown until late in his high school career due to not starting until his senior season. His parents sold their home overlooking Diamond Head in part to finance football camps that would gain him exposure. As a senior, Mariota helped lead St. Louis to an 11–1 record and the Hawaii Division I state title, while being named PrepStar Magazine All-West Region and Interscholastic League of Honolulu Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 2,597 yards on 165-of-225 passing attempts, including 32 touchdowns against only five interceptions. Mariota also rushed the ball 60 times for 455 yards and seven touchdowns. He was named to the NUC All World Game alongside eventual 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.
Also a standout track and field athlete, Mariota was a state track qualifier in the sprinting and jumping events. At the 2010 National Underclassman Combine, he won the camp's "Fastest Man" and "Combine King" awards after running a 4.48-second 40-yard dash. At the 2011 HHSAA T&F Championships, Mariota earned fourth-place finishes in both the 200-meter dash and the long jump, while also placing tenth in the 100-meter dash event at 11.63 seconds. He also ran the second leg on the St. Louis 4 × 100 m relay squad, helping them capture the state title with a time of 42.83 seconds.

High school awards and honors

Mariota attended an Oregon football camp in the summer of 2010, which allowed Mark Helfrich, Oregon's then offensive coordinator, to be one of the first recruiters to discover Mariota. After the camp, Helfrich visited Mariota in Hawaii to watch the somewhat unrecognized quarterback practice going into his senior season. Helfrich called Chip Kelly during the visit and they made the decision to immediately offer Mariota a scholarship, despite never starting a varsity game.
After his senior season, Mariota was rated the No. 2 recruiting prospect in the state of Hawaii and No. 12 dual-threat quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com. He was recruited by the Oregon Ducks, Hawaii, Memphis, Utah, Oregon State, Washington, Arizona, Notre Dame, UCLA, and USC but was only offered a scholarship by Memphis and Oregon. He got the offer from Oregon only after the Ducks' first choice, Johnny Manziel, reneged on his scholarship and went to Texas A&M.

College career

2012 season

After redshirting the 2011 season, Mariota was showcased in 2012 as the first freshman to start a season opener for the Ducks in 22 seasons. He helped lead Oregon to a 12–1 record and the No. 2 final season ranking while being named All-Pac-12 Conference 1st Team, Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, and earning the 2013 Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP Award as Mariota guided the Ducks to a 35–17 victory over #5 Kansas State.
Starting in all 13 games, Mariota threw for 2,677 yards on 230-of-336 passing attempts, including 32 touchdowns against only six interceptions. He also rushed 106 times for 752 yards and five touchdowns. Mariota's athletic versatility was exhibited against Arizona State, when he caught a touchdown pass, threw a touchdown pass, and then ran for an 86-yard touchdown, achieving all three scores with 12 minutes still left in the first half.

2013 season

Mariota earned Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team honors for the second consecutive year after setting a Pac-12 record from the end of the 2012 season into the 2013 season by attempting 353 passes without an interception. Starting in all 13 games, he completed 245-of-386 passing attempts for 3,665 yards with 31 touchdowns and only four interceptions, while rushing for 715 yards and nine touchdowns.
Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA on October 26, 2013, but continued to play the remainder of the season. After Oregon's 8–0 start, Mariota was featured on the national cover of the November 4 issue of Sports Illustrated as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy before the No. 2 ranked Ducks fell to No. 6 Stanford on November 7. Despite Oregon's 11–2 season record and top 10 ranking, Mariota's sophomore season was considered a letdown after the Ducks failed to reach a BCS bowl berth for the first time since the 2008 season.
After a loss to Arizona on November 23, Oregon's first loss to an unranked opponent since 2008, Mariota and the Ducks bounced back to narrowly beat rival Oregon State 36–35 in the Civil War. Mariota threw a touchdown pass to Josh Huff with 29 seconds remaining to give Oregon the come-from-behind victory over the Beavers.
Mariota guided the Ducks to their third consecutive bowl victory, beating Texas 30–7 in the 2013 Alamo Bowl while being honored as the game's Offensive MVP after rushing for 133 yards on 15 carries and finishing with 386 total yards. He finished the 2013 season with 4,380 yards of total offense, becoming the only player in Oregon history to eclipse 4,000 yards in a season.

2014 season

Prior to the Alamo Bowl on December 30, 2013, Mariota announced his decision to bypass the NFL draft and return for the 2014 season. Considered by many to be a Heisman Trophy favorite entering the 2014 season, Mariota was named to watch lists for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and Davey O'Brien Award. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, Mariota was considered one of the best prospects for the NFL Draft.
On December 11, 2014, at the annual College Football Awards show in Orlando, Florida, Mariota won the Davey O'Brien Award for the nation's best quarterback, and the Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards, both awarded to the nation's best football player. The next day back in Eugene, Mariota graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in General Sciences, with an emphasis on human physiology, accomplishing one of his goals in returning to play after the 2013 season.
On December 13, 2014, Mariota became the first Oregon Duck and Hawaii-born athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. He received 788 out of 891 first place votes and 90.9% of the total points.
After a 12–1 regular season record, the Ducks were selected to play in the 2015 Rose Bowl, a College Football Playoff semifinal game, against Florida State and Jameis Winston. Mariota was named the Offensive MVP in the 59–20 victory, after throwing for 338 yards with two passing touchdowns and rushing for 62 yards with one touchdown. With the win, Oregon faced Ohio State in the National Championship and lost, 42–20. Coming into the game, Mariota was set to clinch the all-time lowest interception record, until the final 27 seconds where his last pass of the game was intercepted by cornerback Eli Apple. The loss to the Buckeyes was Mariota's final collegiate game; he entered the 2015 NFL draft a few days later.
In 2016, Oregon unveiled their 30,000 square-foot Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center.
In 2020, the university conducted a poll of alumni and fans via social media, asking them to select four Oregon alumni for a notional Mount Rushmore for the university. Mariota was one of the top four selections, alongside Nike cofounder and university benefactor Phil Knight, Ducks track legend Steve Prefontaine, and recently graduated basketball superstar Sabrina Ionescu.

College statistics

  • 1 – NCAA Leader
  • 2 – Pac-12 Leader
  • 3 – NCAA Leader
  • 4 – Pac-12 Leader

    Awards and honors

2012

  • Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year
  • Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team
  • Pac-12 Academic All-Conference Honorable Mention
  • Honorable Mention All-America
  • Manning Award Finalist
  • Team's Most Outstanding Player
  • Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP

    2013

  • Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team
  • Sports Illustrated Cover, August 19
  • Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week October 7
  • Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, October 13
  • Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week October 14
  • Sports Illustrated Cover, November 4
  • Team's Most Outstanding Player
  • Team's Most Inspirational Player
  • Alamo Bowl Offensive MVP
  • CFPA Quarterback Trophy Winner

    2014

  • Athlon Sports National Player of the Week September 7
  • Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week September 7
  • Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week September 8
  • Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week September 9
  • Sports Illustrated Cover, September 22
  • Senior Bowl National Offensive Player of the Week October 20
  • Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week October 27
  • Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week November 3
  • Team's Most Outstanding Player
  • Team's Most Inspirational Player †
  • Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year
  • Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team
  • Pac-12 Championship Game MVP
  • NCAA passer rating leader
  • Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
  • Polynesian College Football Player of the Year
  • Davey O'Brien Award
  • Walter Camp Award
  • Walter Camp All-America Team
  • Maxwell Award
  • Heisman Trophy
  • Associated Press Player of the Year
  • Sports Illustrated Cover, December 29
  • Rose Bowl Offensive MVP
  • Manning Award
  • Unanimous All-American
†Shared award