After busy awards circuit, Oregons Marcus Mariota glad to be back to football: Oregon rundown By Andrew Greif | agreif@oregonian December 22, 2014 at 7:49 AM EUGENE -- Marcus Mariotas priorities arent too complex. Loves his family. Loves football and his teammates. Loves the challenge of a College Football Playoff semifinal against Florida State on Jan. 1. Dislikes being taken away from any of those. So it was that Oregons junior, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback felt at peace when he returned from college footballs awards circuit last week in time for practice. I think a lot of people dont really realize how busy that awards circuit is, said Mariota, whod been in Orlando, Baltimore and New York in a three-day stretch at one point as he collected the Walter Camp, Maxwell, Davey OBrien and Johnny Unitas awards, in addition to the programs first Heisman. I had a lot of fun, I enjoyed it, it was just good for me to be back. And now hes gone again, in Hawaii to spend the holiday break with family. Oregons players and coaches will reconvene Christmas Day in Pasadena, California, to begin final preparations for the playoffs third-seeded Seminoles (13-0). Some aspects of going home to Hawaii arent likely to change much from New York, where Mariota said many passers-by on the street would call out their congratulations. Though his anonymity is gone in Hawaii, his privacy mostly remains, and thats a big difference from how he spent his past two weeks. For a player so used to being in control of Oregons (12-1) sleek and fast offense, it was an unusual experience to be taken from appearance to appearance over the course of a nearly week-long trip up the East Coast. Rarely was his time his own, something hed caution future college football stars to know before heading out on their own awards circuit. I would tell them to try to enjoy the experience, Mariota said. Theres going to be a lot of people pulling you every which way but for the most part enjoy it. Its a once-in-a-lifetime deal and dont get too caught up with everything thats going on and understand that there are other people who got you there. And one more thing: When you get to hit the late-night talk shows as a perk of winning, just smile into the camera. I was reading cards, he said of reading a Heisman-based top-10 list on David Lettermans Late Show. I didnt really know what the jokes were. A couple of them were pretty funny but I didnt really understand it.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:00:00 +0000
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