Marcus Mariota will pass up the lights and hoopla of Chicago for the camaraderie of home when NFL Draft day comes.
The Heisman Trophy winner turned down an invitation to the April 30 opening day of the three-day draft to remain in Honolulu, where he will learn his fate.
"It has been something that Marcus has always wanted to do," his mother, Alana Deppe-Mariota, said Tuesday in a text message.
She said, "Marcus planned to have it at home since last summer, before he even decided to declare for the NFL."
Details of the private family party have yet to be finalized.
Mariota, a Saint Louis School and University of Oregon product, is considered one of the top prospects in the draft and there has been considerable speculation about where — and by which team — he will be chosen.
Mariota’s fate is expected to be one of the main storylines of the draft, which moved to Chicago for this year after a nearly 50-year run in New York.
Florida State’s Jameis Winston, regarded along with Mariota as the top two quarterbacks in this draft class, also does not plan to attend festivities in Chicago.
Both were invited by the NFL.
Tampa Bay has the No. 1 pick in the draft and analysts have projected the Buccaneers selecting Winston.
Tennessee has the second pick, followed by Jacksonville, Oakland, Washington and the New York Jets. Most analysts rank Mariota among the top 10 prospects.
