The lead up to the opening game of what might be the most pivotal season in quarterback Marcus Mariota’s pro football career will begin early Sunday morning with a phone call.
Mariota will call his parents, Toa and Alana, before he leads the Tennessee Titans against the Browns in Cleveland, the latest installment in an eight-year family ritual that began when he was at the University of Oregon.
There will be no pre-appointed time for the call yet, invariably, “It doesn’t ring more than once,” Marcus told reporters at Wednesday’s press conference in Nashville, Tenn. “Usually, my mom is kinda waiting by the phone.”
“It is part of his routine, our routine, it keeps things real for all of us,” Alana said in a text message.
“Just to have that (family time), I think, is special,” Marcus said.
The import of Mariota’s fifth pro season looms large for both him and the Titans. The second overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, Mariota’s contract can expire after this season and what he produces will go a long way toward determining how far the team goes and whether the Titans offer a lucrative new multi-year contract.
The Titans are paying him $20.9 million this year in exercising the option on his rookie contract. With a strong relatively injury free season, the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner could find himself in the $30 million neighborhood. Without one, he could be on the free-agent market.
But, typically, their pregame phone conversations are more about health than wealth and game plans rather than impending contracts.
Over the 5- to 10-minute duration of the call, his mother will usually counsel him, “ ‘Don’t get hit, don’t take any unnecessary hits,’ ” Marcus said.
With a son whose self-described mind-set is to “compete whether it is a card game, preseason game or regular-season game,” Alana, acknowledged, “Yes, I do, ask him to, please, be safe, play smart and get out of bounds. His dad is much more about the game plan …”
Marcus said, “He is more of … along the lines of, ‘what’s the first play? Are you guys ready for third down? The red zone?’ So, he’s more of a coach in that sense.”
This week Mariota’s parents will watch the game from Eugene, Ore., where they will spend Saturday watching younger son, Matt, a senior tight end and special teams performer for the Ducks. Next week they plan to be in Nashville for the game with Indianapolis.
Marcus said he doesn’t feel the necessity to prove anything to himself this season. “No, not at all. I really believe in myself and I think every single guy who is in the locker room is going to have that ego. At the same time, I’ve been dinged and I’ve been banged up (in the past) and I understand that I’ve just got to do my job to be available for this team and, hopefully, throughout the year that will happen.”
With his blind side tackle, All-Pro Taylor Lewan, out four games due to a suspension and an offensive line that has struggled in preseason, that might be a challenge.
Still, despite changes in the roster, coaching staffs and offenses, the underlying message of their phone calls over the years doesn’t figure to change. Marcus said, it will be “You go play, just go play.”
Overall, “It just calms me,” Marcus said. “Again, it is a privilege and an honor to play for them and I always enjoy those conversations.”
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
