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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcus Mariota, center, former Oregon quarterback and overall No. 2 NFL football draft pick by the Tennessee Titans, poses with head coach Ken Whisenhunt, right, and general manager Ruston Webster, left, during a news conference.
Marcus Mariota’s No. 8 Tennessee Titans’ jersey is the NFL’s top-selling jersey in May, according to Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.
Kuharsky was told of Mariota’s jersey ranking by Titans’ director of finance, Stuart Spears.
The NFL site offering official league apparel prominently features Mariota’s jerseys on the team’s site. The colors available are Navy blue or light blue for men and light blue for women.
The Saint Louis School and University of Oregon product was the No. 2 overall pick by Tennessee in the NFL Draft. The Titans launched an entire marketing plan around Mariota and put up digital billboards throughout Nashville.
Recently, the Heisman Trophy winner was ranked the 39th most marketable athlete in the world, according to Sports Pro, a sports industry magazine that ranked the top 50 young athletes who would be worth investing in over the next three years. Mariota was listed ahead of such prominent stars as Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook.
It is not a total surprise that a rookie quarterback would top the NFL sales charts.
Last year from April through October, Johnny Manziel’s No. 2 Cleveland Browns jersey ranked third among best-selling NFL jerseys. He was behind top-seller Peyton Manning’s No. 18 Broncos’ jersey and Russell Wilson’s Seahawks’ No. 3 jersey.
