Posted on 16 January 2015.
Marcus Mariota made his mark at the University of Oregon. He broke seemingly every quarterback record for the Ducks, won the Heisman trophy and led Oregon to a 36-5 record in his three yearsas.
Off the field, Mariota tended to shy away from the spotlight. He wasn’t one to seek out attention or particularly enjoy an interview. However, with fans and the city of Eugene, Mariota always found time to make a fans day.
Here are a few examples the Emerald received from fans wanting to share special memories they shared with Mariota.
Sarah Sharp, University of Oregon student
Last winter I volunteered at the Boy’s and Girl’s club for a class. I had only been in a few times before Marcus Mariota came in. We were there the same day and time most of the term.
The kids would invariably flock to him and ask him to sign things. He would greet them with high fives and smiles. He always played in the gym with them. The kids like to play a game called “octopus,” which involved throwing, running, and catching. One day, a boy rushed out of the gym angry and close to tears. A professional staff member followed after him and I continued my work.
Moments later, I looked out the window to see that Marcus had joined the boy on a bench outside. The two sat there talking while a staff member looked on from inside. The boy had obviously calmed down and was soon smiling. His mother even arrived to pick him up and brought their dog along. The three remained outside talking and playing with dog before the boy went home with a smile on his face.
Of course a staff member would have played Marcus’ role in the situation, but he had taken it upon himself to cheer him up and I’m sure that kid will never forget it.
Benjamin Kearney, University of Oregon fan
It was December of 2012. The Ducks were getting ready to play in the Fiesta Bowl and my wife was at Valley River Center with my 6 year old doing some Christmas shopping. Outside the Duck Store my wife realized that Marcus Mariota and several other players are walking toward them. My son is a huge Duck fan and recognized Mariota. He sheepishly waved and muttered hello to one of his “top two” favorite players (De’Anthony Thomas was, at the time, probably his favorite). Mariota stopped walking, got down on one knee and asked my son how he was doing. Mariota noticed my son’s ninja t-shirt, said he really liked ninjas and asked my son why he liked ninjas. They proceeded to have a conversation about ninjas. Not about football, the Ducks, or how great Mariota was, but about ninjas.
My son would have been perfectly happy talking about the Ducks, but Mariota was clearly more interested in just having a real conversation. After spending far more time with him than was necessary (especially at a public place like the mall), Mariota stood up. My son looked him right in the eyes and said, “I hope you win the Fiesta Bowl.” Mariota replied, “Me too, buddy” and gave him a high five. My son wished Mariota and the other players a Merry Christmas and floated out of Valley River with the biggest grin my wife has ever seen. To this day, he still talks about “meeting his buddy, Marcus Mariota.”
I was blown away by the humility of Mariota to take the time and have a conversation with a 6 year old about ninjas. Not about football, or how much my son likes the Ducks or Mariota, but about ninjas. And sorry, De’Anthony, but from that day on there was no doubt about my son’s favorite player.
Jordan Paul, University of Oregon alumnus
I guarantee you he has no idea who I am, but the friendly nature in which he interacted with each and every one of us trying to re-live our high school hoops glory days was unprecedented. He would show up, politely say, “Hey guys, can I get in the next open game?” and quietly go lace up his Air Jordan 9′s, not wanting to get in anyone’s way. Little did he know, every other guy on that court looked up to him in a way, even though he was probably a year or 2 younger than the rest of us at this point. He just never once had the “don’t you know who I am?” attitude that a lot of the other football guys had. It was refreshing to see one of the leaders of our University and our football team act this way amongst some of the other things you hear going on in the news with other high-profile college athletes.
In many cases, certain groups of football players would show up to the gym and just take over the main court, because, well, they were on the football team. It was kind of just understood that they were entitled because they were the ones playing in Rose Bowls and Fiesta Bowls on National TV in front of millions of viewers. They were the ones ranked top-10 in the BCS rankings week in and week out. No one really questioned it. But you would NEVER catch Marcus involved with these groups or showing this kind of ignorance.
Josh Sutton, current University of Oregon student
It was the first Monday back to class after Christmas break two years ago. The ducks had just won the Fiesta Bowl and a handful of players, including Marcus, were at the rec playing pickup basketball. My team had just won our third straight game and faced a group of players dressed in their fiesta bowl champs gear; one of them being Marcus. Being the only person above 6’3″ I ended up guarding him throughout the game. On one particular possession Marcus cut from the baseline up to the top of key, caught a pass and raised up for a 3-pointer. I sprinted to contest it, putting a hand up while in a falling forward motion. As the ball released from his hands I felt my hand go directly under the ball and into his face, jabbing my index and middle fingers into both of his eyes.
As I came down from contesting his shot I felt my right ankle awkwardly land on his already planted foot. I hit the ground grimacing in pain from what felt like a very badly sprained ankle. As I was on the court holding my ankle I looked up and Marcus bending down to me, with bloodshot watery eyes, saying, “Are you alright” over and over. He reached out a hand to help me up and patted me on the back before I hobbled to the baseline. He and I both ended up not being able to finish out the game, me with a sprained ankle and him with blurry vision. The part I like about this story is the fact that he wasn’t concerned about not being able to see clearly, but more concerned about a complete stranger who was actually the one to blame for it all happening.
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt
