New leadership, new impact players, and a new identity has the Tennessee Titans and their fans less than three weeks away from their most anticipated training camp in recent memory.
And while the new additions bring new optimism, the team’s hope for a turnaround this season still falls on the shoulders of a familiar face…Marcus Mariota.
You remember him, right?
This time last year he was the sole point of discussion for all things Titans. National media pundits invaded Nashville. Fans swarmed Baptist Sports Park, eager to get an up close and personal look at the new face of the franchise.
Sports media outlets couldn’t get enough of the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Oregon. His teammates were constantly barraged with question after question about Mariota, and how he fits in with the team.
They also seemed to enjoy their newfound attention.
Yes, Mariota’s off-field personality is one that would shy away from such attention, preferring to deflect any and all praise to his coaches and colleagues.
He’s not on twitter for goodness sake, a rarity for today’s athletes and celebrities. Which begs the question, can you imagine how many followers he would have today if he set up an account?
While you ponder that…I’ll digress.
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Private persona aside, it’s still hard to imagine Mariota being overshadowed on a team with little star power. But that’s exactly what happened this offseason.
For starters, Mariota missed the final two games last year because of a knee injury, and immediately after the season the Titans’ main point of discussion was the pending coaching vacancy.
When the interim tag was ultimately removed from head coach Mike Mularkey, the focus then shifted to…why?
When the smoke cleared, a fella by the name of Jon Robinson arrived in Nashville to accept his first crack at being the general manager of a professional football team.
At his introductory press conference, Robinson (a native Tennessean) pulled at the heart-strings of the locals with his impassioned plea for Titans fans to rally around the team…as a community.
Looking back, that speech started the momentum for the above mentioned optimism this upcoming season.
But for Robinson, there was no looking back at all.
On the first day of free agency, the rookie general manager pulled off a headline-stealing trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for running back DeMarco Murray…a move that no one saw coming.
A second trade with the Los Angeles Rams for the number one overall draft pick kept Tennessee’s face of the franchise on the back-burner.
It was all anyone could talk about, in and outside of Nashville.
On the second day of the draft, the Titans were once again the lead story on every major sports outlet when they selected running back Derrick Henry with the 45th overall pick.
A move that had everyone weighing in with an opinion on why the Titans selected him….and what that means for the newly acquired Murray.
Next: What would you pay for Alshon Jeffery?
Tennessee enjoyed near unprecedented media coverage this offseason, and ironically enough, none of it centered around their most recognisable player.
Something that I’m sure the mild-mannered and unassuming starting quarterback didn’t mind.
But make no mistake about it, Marcus Mariota is still the star of the show. His arms and legs still holds the key to any success the Titans hope to have this season.
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