Marcus Mariota represents an unusual case for the NFL.
Mariota is quiet, humble, a model citizen, and about the only bad thing you can say about him is that he was once ticketed for speeding. He’s also unusual in that he’s an excellent leader despite not being overly vocal.
The Ringer’s Kevin Clark published a piece Tuesday about the Tennessee Titans quarterback that included Mariota’s explanation for why his quiet leadership style works.
“I think it comes down to ‘be yourself,’” Mariota told Clark. “Guys will respect that. Guys will gravitate towards that. I don’t want to be something that I’m not. Guys tend to pick up on that quickly.”
The Ringer’s story was filled with anecdotes about Mariota as told by teammates and former teammates. All the stories speak glowingly about Mariota as a person.
So many people had so many great things to say about Mariota that, bizzarely, a red flag against him around draft time was that he had no red flags. Through two seasons, the former Heisman Trophy winner is proving that idiotic logic was wrong.
