Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota kisses the Heisman Trophy at the New York Marriott Marquis Dec. 13 after he was named the recipient of the trophy. Right, Mariota’s Saint Louis graduation photo. (CNS photo/Brad Penner, USA Today Sports via Reuters)
The Heisman wasn’t Marcus Mariota’s first top honor. While the Saint Louis School graduate and University of Oregon’s quarterback made history as Hawaii’s first recipient of college football’s most prestigious trophy, he was also given his high school’s highest commendation during his senior year.
It was for his character, not his obvious sports talent.
In January of 2011, at the school’s Founders’ Day liturgy, Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota was awarded the Blessed Chaminade Service Award for exemplifying the spirit of Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, the founder of the Marianist order that runs Saint Louis.
According to Saint Louis president Walter Kirimitsu, Mariota, who is not a Catholic, earned the honor by “demonstrating the spirit of Mary by bringing Christ to others, a commitment to faith and prayer, a missionary spirit of service and justice” and other exceptional qualities.
“Marcus exemplified genuine compassion and service in the spirit of Marianist values,” Kirimitsu said in an email message. “He demonstrated concern for his peers both in the classroom and on the athletics field as a true steward leader.”
“By nature soft-spoken, Marcus would convey his message largely through actions and accomplishments while conducting himself with humility and magnanimity,” the school president said.
Upon graduation in 2011, Mariota was also selected by his class to receive the Father William O’Connell Award which recognizes service to the class and a contribution to class unity. In addition, his superior marks in both academics and athletics earned him the scholar-athlete award.
The spiritual training at Saint Louis left its mark on Mariota. He regularly attends the University of Oregon’s Ducks’ weekly team Masses and shows up at campus ministry liturgies on occasion.
“He is a great kid,” said Dominican Father Peter Do, pastor at St. Thomas More Newman Center in Eugene. “He is very humble.”
In an interview before the 2014 football season, Mariota told the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Magazine that faith plays a major role in his life.
“When things start to get rough, you find comfort in your faith,” he said. “Knowing that no matter what, you can dust yourself off and be OK. And you know you do it for (God’s) glory. You do it for your teammates, your family, but also for his glory and to represent his name.”
Mariota told the publication that his faith is “the steadying force that’s pushed me, along with my family, my friends and my teammates.”
He spoke of a responsibility to represent God and his family “in the right light.” You do that through God’s power he said, but also by maintaining fellowship with other believers who become your family away from home.
Mariota, who is of Samoan and German descent, entered Saint Louis in the seventh grade.
“It was an easy decision to accept him because we saw immediately that he already possessed the tools, maturity, and characteristics for the Saint Louis Man,” Kirimitsu said. “These include humility, his respect for others, his moral choices, and a very strong desire to be of service to others.”
A school crowd in the Saint Louis gym watched the Heisman award announcement Dec. 13 on a big screen. When the local boy was called forward during the event at the New York Marriott Marquis, the assembly went crazy.
The day after winning, Mariota showed his true colors in New York, visiting with sick children and laying a wreath at the 9/11 memorial.
One story circulates around the Ducks’ team. A teammate once had car trouble a few hours south of Eugene. Mariota drove the whole distance, helped get the vehicle going and then refused payment for gas.
“We congratulate and are so proud of Marcus because not only was he was an excellent student at Saint Louis, he also is a great representative for the State of Hawaii,” said Kirimitsu.
“He symbolizes and is a great role model for what we strive for at Saint Louis every day, ‘where boys who want to change the world become the men who do.’ Marcus has already changed the world in our opinion,” he said.
Ed Langlois, a staff writer at the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland, contributed to this story.
