Marcus Mariota: Time to lay low
By P. L. Colter
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has been on a whirlwind tour the past several months, and I mean that literally.
From the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, to the Rose Bowl in California, to the National Championship game in Texas, to his pro day in Oregon, to the draft party in Hawaii, to Titans headquarters in Nashville Tennessee. Not to mention all of the stops in between. All within a short time frame.
And to the cynic that says…”What’s so special about that? People fly all the time”.
True…but not with cameras, reporters, and fans clamoring for your attention every second of the way. Such is the life of a celebrated collegiate athlete and future face of an NFL franchise.
Mariota has one more mandatory practice Thursday, then six full weeks off before the real deal…training camp. With his popularity at an all time high, it would be hard to discourage him from using the next six weeks to further expand his brand.
But I will try my best to.
Marcus Mariota…it’s time to lay low.
Mariota has been on a non stop media blitz since last August, when the Oregon star’s Heisman hype began. His above mentioned whirlwind tour started seconds after losing last year’s National Championship game.
The traveling, the demands, the pressure of being called the savior of a franchise…one that hasn’t won a game in 9 months.
You would think that fatigue has to be setting in.
As reported by ESPN’s Paul Kuharsky earlier today, Mariota says he’s holding up fine. His comments…
“It’s been a long six, seven months for me…I wouldn’t say [tired]. I love the game, I’m passionate about it. So each and every single day I am excited to be here and I know it’s a blessing and a privilege. Tired wouldn’t be one of the words I’d use to describe it.”
Ok then…how about fatigued?
If Mariota’s last six or seven months have been long, then he has no idea what awaits him in a few short weeks.
Training camp is a hot, miserable grind. A mental and physical grind. The press will be all over him from day one. Every snap, every throw, every day.
Not exactly the environment to enter into already worn down.
It would behoove Mariota to leave the mainland for a month or so. Unplug from everything that has transpired the past seven months, and prepare himself mentally for the daunting challenge ahead.
Other than meeting with the receivers for some pre-camp work, Mariota should lay low the next few weeks. In fact, they should meet on his turf…in seclusion…in Hawaii.
There will be plenty of rabid fans and media when you return.
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