One person at the summit had never heard of Marcus Mariota before Friday. Upon meeting him, Alex Volobuev was left with the same first impression as everyone else.
“Seems like a very nice guy,” said the young pilot.
Then, he asked: “How do you spell his name?”
Football isn’t a very big deal in his native Russia, so Volobuev wanted to do a bit of research on the star of the TV commercial shoot he was working on as an adviser.
“Oh, he has his own Wikipedia page, he must be pretty famous,” Volobuev said a few minutes later.
Unlike Volobuev and the character in a previous Island Insurance ad who couldn’t quite place where she’d seen Mariota before, very few people in Hawaii don’t instantly recognize the Tennessee Titans quarterback.
And everyone still wants a piece of the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner from Honolulu, whether it be an autograph, photograph or chat. Or all of the above.
Mariota is unfailingly accommodating and polite; that means the only way for him to get something like a commercial done in a reasonable amount of time is for its time and place to be kept secret.
The hurry-up-and-wait aspects of commercial shoots can wear down the most patient souls. Mariota concedes this kind of stuff is far from his favorite aspect of his job, but he never lets it get the best of him.
“Marcus put in a full day of hard work,” Island Insurance vice president Todd Yamanaka said. “From start to finish he was so gracious and respectful to everyone. Just a humble person and all-around nice guy.”
The isolated location of the early-morning photo shoot for Island’s next ad with Mariota served a double purpose. It met the needs of the commercial’s theme of reaching the summit, and the general inaccessibility to the top of Kamehame Ridge meant fewer star-struck bystanders.
No one could help being in awe of the view from high above East and Windward Oahu. Especially with the sudden halt of a week of rain there’s just one word for it: majestic.
Mariota has reached the top in the hearts and minds of those from his home state, but he knows he’s got a long way to go before claiming the NFL pinnacle. He put up respectable individual stats in his rookie season with the Titans, but the team was just 3-13 and fourth in the NFC South last year.
“You’ve got to continue to work at your craft and eventually I can reach the summit. But it’s a process,” he told reporters during a break after the first three hours of shooting. “But it’s really just a process, and I’ve got to continue to work at where I’m going and hopefully one day I’ll reach it.”
In the offseason, Tennessee acquired two potentially game-changing running backs in former Cowboys All-Pro DeMarco Murray and Mariota’s successor in the Heisman line, Derrick Henry from Alabama. There’s also new help on the offensive line and at receiver.
“The (new) talent is really going to help us out,” Mariota said.
When asked if his tan is more from the golf course or body surfing as he takes his brief break before training camp, Mariota laughed and said it’s 50-50.
And he noted he was at the perfect spot from which to check out the swells.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
