1. Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota was born on October 30,1993 and is an American professional football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League.
67 Facts About Marcus Mariota
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Marcus Mariota played college football for the Oregon Ducks, and in 2014 became the first player at the school and the first Hawaii-born athlete to win the Heisman Trophy.
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Marcus Mariota was replaced as starting quarterback by Ryan Tannehill after six games in the 2019 season.
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In 2020, Marcus 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.
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Marcus Mariota spent the 2023 season as a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Commanders in 2024.
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Marcus Mariota was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 30,1993.
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Marcus Mariota is of Samoan descent on his father's side and German descent on his mother's side.
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Marcus Mariota grew up admiring the quarterback play of fellow Samoan Jeremiah Masoli, who was a standout quarterback at the Saint Louis School and the University of Oregon.
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Marcus Mariota attended the Saint Louis School in Honolulu, where he was a two-sport star in football and track.
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In football, Marcus Mariota was relatively unknown until late in his high school career due to not starting until his senior season.
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Marcus Mariota threw for 2,597 yards on 165-of-225 passing attempts, including 32 touchdowns against only five interceptions.
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Marcus Mariota rushed the ball 60 times for 455 yards and seven touchdowns.
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Marcus Mariota was named to the NUC All World Game alongside eventual 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.
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Also a standout track and field athlete, Marcus Mariota was a state track qualifier in the sprinting and jumping events.
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Marcus 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 Marcus Mariota.
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Marcus Mariota 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.
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Marcus Mariota rushed 106 times for 752 yards and five touchdowns.
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Marcus 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.
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Marcus Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA on October 26,2013, but continued to play the remainder of the season.
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Marcus Mariota threw a touchdown pass to Josh Huff with 29 seconds remaining to give Oregon the come-from-behind victory over the Beavers.
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Marcus Mariota 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.
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On December 11,2014, at the annual College Football Awards show in Orlando, Florida, Marcus 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.
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The next day back in Eugene, Marcus 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.
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On December 13,2014, Marcus Mariota became the first Oregon Duck and Hawaii-born athlete to win the Heisman Trophy.
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Marcus 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.
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Marcus Mariota was selected with the second overall pick in the first round by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL Draft behind Jameis Winston.
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In May 2015, Marcus Mariota had the best-selling NFL jersey in the league, beating out Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, who had the second and third highest selling jerseys, respectively.
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Marcus Mariota signed a four-year, $24,213,974 contract with a $15.9 million signing bonus.
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Marcus Mariota played in his first career regular-season game on September 13 against 2015's first overall draft pick Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers.
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On his fourth career pass attempt, Marcus Mariota threw his first NFL touchdown on a 52-yard throw to wide receiver Kendall Wright.
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Marcus Mariota became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in the first half of his NFL debut.
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Marcus Mariota is the youngest quarterback to reach the perfect passer rating, surpassing Robert Griffin III.
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Marcus Mariota became the youngest quarterback since the franchise moved to Tennessee to throw for over 300 yards in a game.
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Marcus Mariota became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to have two games with four touchdowns and no interceptions and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Saints.
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Marcus Mariota ran for 112 yards on the day, including an 87-yard touchdown rush.
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Marcus Mariota became the first quarterback in franchise history to catch a touchdown reception.
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Marcus Mariota became the first NFL player since Walter Payton in the 1983 season to pass for a touchdown, rush for a touchdown and catch a touchdown pass of at least 40 yards.
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The next day, it was revealed that Marcus Mariota was diagnosed with another MCL sprain, and the Titans announced that he would miss the remainder of the season.
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In 12 games of his rookie year in 2015, Marcus Mariota had 2,818 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions to go along with 34 carries for 252 yards and two touchdowns.
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Marcus Mariota underwent surgery and was out for the final game of the season.
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Marcus Mariota finished his second professional season with a career-high 3,426 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
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Marcus Mariota was ranked 50th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 and was named a Pro Bowl first alternate.
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On September 10,2017, against the Oakland Raiders in the season opener, Marcus Mariota recorded a rushing touchdown in the first quarter for the Titans' first points of the 2017 season.
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Three weeks later against the Houston Texans, Marcus Mariota was limited to 96 passing yards and two interceptions.
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Marcus Mariota finished the regular season with 3,232 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions to go along with 60 carries for 312 yards and five touchdowns.
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Brad Johnson is the only other player to throw a touchdown pass to himself, although Marcus Mariota is the only quarterback to do so in the playoffs.
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Marcus Mariota missed Week 2 against the Texans due to his injury.
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Marcus Mariota returned to the starting lineup in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles and completed 30 of 43 passes for 344 yards, two passing touchdowns, and an interception to go along with 46 rushing yards and a touchdown.
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Marcus Mariota finished the game completing 22-of-23 passes for a completion percentage of 95.7.
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Marcus Mariota finished the 2018 season with a career-low 11 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a career-low 2,528 passing yards.
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Marcus Mariota remained the backup for the rest of the season.
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On March 25,2020, Marcus Mariota signed a two-year, $17.6 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.
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Marcus Mariota was placed on injured reserve on September 7,2020.
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Marcus Mariota made his Raiders debut in the first quarter of a Week 15 matchup against the Chargers after starter Derek Carr left the game with a groin injury.
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Marcus Mariota entered the season as the backup to Derek Carr.
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On March 21,2022, Marcus Mariota signed a two-year, $18.75 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons after they traded longtime starter Matt Ryan to the Colts.
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On July 28,2022, Marcus Mariota was named the Falcons' starting quarterback after engaging in an open competition for the starting quarterback job with rookie Desmond Ridder during the offseason.
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On December 8,2022, Marcus Mariota was benched in favor of Ridder for the Falcons' Week 15 game against the Saints.
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On March 20,2023, Marcus Mariota signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.
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Marcus Mariota threw for a touchdown and an interception, both of which came in Week 18 against the Giants.
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On March 14,2024, Marcus Mariota signed a one-year deal with the Washington Commanders.
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Marcus Mariota briefly wore 0 as his jersey number, the first quarterback in NFL history to do so, before changing to 18 after training camp.
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Marcus Mariota strained his pectoral muscle in practice and was placed on injured reserve on September 7,2024.
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Marcus Mariota was then inserted into the game, completing 18-of-23 pass attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
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On March 13,2025, Marcus Mariota re-signed with the Commanders on a one-year, $8 million contract.
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Marcus Mariota married Kiyomi Cook in 2021, with the couple having their first child the following year.
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Marcus Mariota was one of three quarterbacks documented on and off the field during the 2022 season for the Netflix and NFL Films series Quarterback, which debuted in July 2023.