NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- He’s a Heisman Trophy winner in his second NFL season, leading a team with a good chance at a playoff berth.

Yet Marcus Mariota’s last name continues to be butchered by announcers and national pundits.

They frequently call him MARY-o-tah, rather than MAR-ee-OH-tah.

“It tells me that people aren’t doing their homework, and if they want to be professionals, they should do their job correctly,” left tackle Taylor Lewan said. “When you go to the dictionary, and you look at a word, it’ll say how to pronounce it. Just do that with him and our media info.

“They’re like ‘Mariotee’ and stuff like that.”

Commissioner Roger Goodell called Mariota to apologize after messing up his name from the podium in Chicago at the 2015 draft when Mariota’s was the second name called.

Since then, however, Mariota’s play has grown at a far faster rate than people’s ability to say his name properly.

I wrote about it on Sept. 15, 2015. I’m still writing about it on Dec. 21, 2016.

When it comes to the pronunciation of his last name, Mariota is, like with virtually everything except an unmade bed, unflappable.

He is, however, capable of running through a variety of mispronunciations.

“My parents, they’ve gotten used to it over the years,” he said. “Friends back home, they’ll shoot me a text or show me a video of somebody mispronouncing it. I guess that’s kind of just how it is. Unfortunately, we’ve gotten used to it over the years, but we don’t hold any grudge or anything like that.

“I think it’s [simple]. I guess it’s a little different.”

He said his teachers in elementary school and high school might have gotten it right.

“When I got to college, there was not a chance,” he said.

The super-polite quarterback never corrects anyone.

Tennessee Titans director of broadcasting Mike Keith, who does the team’s radio play-by-play, said he’s sympathetic to colleagues who are not that familiar with the name.

“I understand it,” he said. “It looks like Mari-ota. That's how I would say if I hadn't asked Oregon. I still slip and do it sometimes, which is why I still practice it occasionally. I have complete sympathy for the national folks who have to keep up with 1,600 names, not just 53.

“Hopefully if enough of us keeping saying it properly and the Titans keep winning, the tide will turn.”

Perhaps further complicating things for some announcers is the presence of Titans return man Marc Mariani -- pronounced MARY-annie.

“I claim no responsibility for that,” Mariani said. “He’s a household name so they’ve got to figure it out. I’ve heard they screw it up pretty good.

“Mine’s been getting butchered for years. I’m used to it. He’s the man. He’s Super Mario. They should know his name. Me? I’m just a little Italian guy, so I can understand.”

Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo had people mispronounce his name early in his career, which lead to a shortening in casual settings, where he’s often called “Rak.”

“Mariota definitely needs to be fixed,” he said. “You can’t keep sleeping on the Titans. That’s kind of disappointing you can’t even get the guy’s name right. I guess we’ve still got work to do.”