Oregon's Marcus Mariota: A nice guy finishing fast

EUGENE, Ore. — The pass was away, but the guy popped him anyway. Just barely legal, an unfriendly hello. Marcus Mariota bounced up, patted the guy on the helmet, and delivered his own message:

"Good hit."

This was a couple of weeks ago, during Oregon's victory at Utah. But it's a scene repeated regularly enough that the quarterback's teammates have grown used to it, even as they marvel at the cause — and its effect.

"They're trying to rattle him, do a little late shot," Oregon center Hroniss Grasu says. "I'm getting really upset, because I'm very protective of Marcus and I take it very personal. Marcus just pats him on the back, says 'Good job,' and 'Keep coming.'

"The guy just gets even more mad. It's awesome. When they see it didn't faze Marcus, it gets them more upset."

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And Mariota just moves on to the next highlight. There could be many more coming soon — possibly a Heisman trophy, possibly a berth in the College Football Playoff, possibly a top pick in the NFL Draft. But those on-field moments are worth considering. If there's a question about Mariota, it's whether he might be — get this — too nice, meaning he lacks the cold, killer instinct that so often accompanies high-level success.

While Mariota simply shrugs at the notion, his coaches and teammates bristle, talk about his character and wonder how or why it could be a deficit. They describe an intense competitor, someone who cannot stand to lose — beat him at cards, and you'll keep playing until he wins — but who rarely loses his cool even when things don't go his way.

So here's something to consider: What if being nice is part of the competition? What if, for example, in congratulating those opponents for trying to rattle him, there's at least a smidgen of an ulterior motive?

Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost describes an unusual calm as one of Mariota's most potent "weapons."

Mariota insists any edge created is unintentional. He says he's just trying to "display good sportsmanship," to play the game the way it's supposed to be played. "It's almost like an 'honorable competition' type of deal," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich says.

But Grasu notes: "He knows he's winning doing that."

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Sometimes you can't win for winning. With NFL types, there's sometimes concern about whether a quarterback is too reckless, on and especially off the field. But there's also much about confidence-gone-cocky that coaches and scouts love.

By all accounts, Mariota is the antithesis. Teammates tell stories about how he picks up his trash – and theirs. He hands out food to homeless guys on the corner. He holds doors open for strangers. Stories about his gracious interaction with the public have become legion. And it's not so much being kind to fans when they stop him as seeming grateful that they did.

"He thanks people for appreciating him," Grasu says, "every single time."

There's reason for their appreciation. In Mariota's three seasons as a starter, Oregon is 32-4. This season, Oregon is 9-1, ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff Top 25, in large part because of the junior quarterback, who leads the nation in passing efficiency and total touchdowns, completing 67.1 percent of his attempts with 29 touchdowns and two interceptions. During his career, he's thrown only 12 interceptions in 999 attempts, against 92 touchdowns.

That's only part of the threat. Oregon coaches say Mariota was timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash during an Oregon football camp the summer before his senior season in high school. At 6-4, 219 pounds, he's wiry, strong and fast. The best comparison might be to Colin Kaepernick, but Mariota is more advanced as a passer than Kaepernick was at the same stage. Or to Russell Wilson, but he's bigger.

"He has a tremendous amount of upside and intriguing athletic ability," says Daniel Jeremiah, a former NFL scout who's now an analyst for the NFL Network. "He's got the size, the makeup you want, the intelligence, the toughness you want."

But when an anonymous NFL scout, as reported last month by Sports Illustrated, suggested Mariota might be "too nice," it struck a nerve with the Ducks.

"Like if you punched him in the stomach, he might apologize to you," the scout told SI. "I just don't know if he's that alpha male that you're looking for. … He's got all the physical talent in the world. He's a good kid, too. You don't have to worry about him off the field. All you've got to worry about is he too nice?"

Frost calls the idea "a joke," adding: "It's a product of being on top long enough that people start to try to invent something that's wrong."

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Frost, of course, is firmly in the quarterback's corner. He told USA TODAY Sports last summer that Mariota has "done absolutely everything right since he's been here." But if you're searching for something — anything — to quibble about, here are a couple of flaws. Backup quarterback Jeff Lockie, his road roommate, says Mariota has one terrible habit.

"He's a loud snorer," Lockie says.

And then there was last week, when Mariota was ticketed for speeding. It was late at night. He was allegedly doing 80 in a 55-mph zone on a two-lane highway between Eugene and the Oregon coast. There was no indication, according to state police, of any other violations, but the citation made headlines.

This part didn't surprise anyone: An Oregon State Police spokesman told reporters Mariota was "polite and respectful."

Still, there's at least an effort by Mariota's coaches and teammates to make sure people know the quarterback has an edge. There was the time during fall practices when, on what passes for really hot in an Oregon summer, he was dissatisfied with the team's energy level. He gathered the players together and then commenced cussing a blue streak at very high volume.

"That's not the nice-guy thing to do," Grasu says. "But he's competitive at everything."

Teammates describe a guy who won't stop playing games until he wins, or stop doing something until he gets it right. One example: Mariota and Grasu regularly play golf, a sport they both took up in college. Neither is very good. But Mariota is driven to get better. During a class, when the lesson was how to hit balls out of the bunker, Mariota wasn't satisfied. Using his wedge, he pounded the ball deep into the sand, then practiced hitting from the horrible lie until he'd mastered the shot.

"I hate to lose," says Mariota, who attributes his competitive streak to his parents, and to growing up with a younger brother.

***

And now, unlike in his first couple of years at Oregon, he's holding teammates to the same standard as he's held himself.

"He's come light years, especially this year," Frost says. "He's our leader in every sense of the word."

Frost insists he's seen Mariota get frustrated and, in classic angry quarterback fashion, punt the football far downfield. Once, Frost says, he even had to be dragged away from a fight.

"He'll tell you he was just trying to break up two other guys," Frost says. "But he was right in the middle of the melee."

Frost adds, chuckling: "I was just worried about getting him out of there."

It's all part of the evolution of Mariota's leadership skills. When he arrived in Eugene from Honolulu his talent wasn't in question, but he was deferential to the point of being shy. He's a Tuesday afternoon regular at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Emerald Valley, where he serves as a mentor to several young boys.

"He genuinely cares about the kids," says Kassey Mosher, the club's executive director, who says Mariota is considered part of the staff. "He's amazing."

Mosher says Mariota started participating several years ago at the direction of then-Oregon coach Chip Kelly, who wanted his quarterback "to develop his confidence and ability to talk with people."

"It's much easier to do it with little kids than with people your own age or media or something like that," Mosher says.

Mariota seems to understand it's something he needed to master in order to succeed.

"It's been an ongoing process," he says. "It's something I've really worked on since last year. I have to get out of my shell and out of my comfort zone."

***

What comes next? While Mariota ranks at or near the top of many NFL Draft projections, he insists he hasn't thought much about it, and that he'll consider the future when the season is over. He turned down an early jump to the NFL a year ago, but no one expects him to do so again.

"If this season keeps going the way it is, it's gonna be hard to tell him to stay," Frost says. "I think he's ready. He's a lot more ready than he was a year ago. He's physically more ready, and mentally and emotionally more ready. … I really don't see anything that he can work on a whole lot more here."

And Frost adds one more thing: "Any team that thinks he's too nice – they don't deserve him."

Or maybe, they don't understand him.

"My parents always told me to be respectful to anyone you meet and to live your life that way," Mariota says. "There's no reason to be angry or impolite. Just be who you are and respect everyone you meet."

That goes for the honorable competition, and those opponents who try to rattle him, but get rattled instead. Grasu recalls a sequence earlier this year when Mariota patted an opponent and congratulated him for a nice hit.

"The guy turned around, freaking out," Grasu says. "'Who touched me? Who did that?'"

Mariota says he isn't sure why anyone would be angry – "There's no reason to get upset about it," he says – and says there's no intent to create an edge. He's not trying to win at being nice. But he's not likely to change, either.

"If we're able to win games and I'm able to do that (while) being myself," he says, "that's the most important thing."