Washington Commanders QB Marcus Mariota’s true impact

ASHBURN, Va. — Marcus Mariota has thrown 44 passes as a quarterback for the Washington Commanders this season. 

Playing for his fifth team in his 10-year NFL career, the Commanders veteran is past the days where fans attach their hopes for long-term franchise success to his performances, but little do fans know the success experienced in the DMV this season has a lot to do with what Mariota brings to the team off the field when he’s not on it.

While Washington fans have fallen in love with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels this season, and for good reason, he gives a lot of credit to Mariota for what has unfolded this year, saying, “He didn’t have to take me under his wing. He’s done that, plus more.”

“It’s actually really easy, and he made it easy,” Mariota said about building a relationship with Daniels this year. “At the end of the day, I feel like I was in those shoes and I wanted to provide some sort of foundation for him to be able to have a springboard.”

Mariota has good reason to feel like Daniels’ situation is one he’s familiar with. Coming out of Oregon in 2015, Mariota was the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft and tasked with the mission of saving the Tennessee Titans franchise. Things didn’t go as planned, unfortunately, and the quarterback eventually had to leave those aspirations behind to further live his football life elsewhere. 

He knows what Daniels is carrying, what he’s living through, and he knows how it feels to fall short. So while he’s always anticipating an opportunity to provide on-field influence for the team, he maximizes his chances to do it behind the scenes as well. 

“Quarterback is the hardest position to play in sports, and to be able to provide Jayden with just a little bit of love and knowing that, ‘Hey man, we got your back,’ I think that’s important.”

In a one-on-one interview with WUSA9’s Chick Hernandez, Mariota also shared that this Commanders’ quarterback room is arguably the healthiest he’s ever been a part of and is certainly the most fun. And a lot of that, he says, has to do with Daniels. 

That influence has been felt across the roster as well. Not just in the confidence the team plays with, but with the digit another rookie is wearing.

Mariota made history as the first Hawaiian-born player to win the Heisman Trophy and he did it wearing the No. 8–a number he shared was randomly given to him during his youth but became part of his identity as a player.

With running back Brian Robinson Jr. in possession of the number in Washington, Mariota opted for No. 0, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to wear that specific digit. But when the Commanders drafted cornerback Mike Sainristil, Mariota jumped into action again with the intention of taking care of one of his younger teammates because he knows how important a jersey number can be to any player.

“I approached Mike about it, and he was like, ‘Let’s do something,’ and at the end of the day, I wanted to provide a cool opportunity, a different way of doing the number.”

That change involved not only giving the coveted jersey number to Sainristil, but focusing the traditional compensation for trading a jersey number on helping others as well. Because of this, both players made donations to havefaithhaiti.com, an organization that aims to provide safety, nourishment, education, and more to Haiti’s impoverished children and others in need.

“I chose this because, being a Haitian kid, it felt important to be supportive of the impoverished youth and orphans of Haiti,” Sainristil shared. 

“It means the world from someone who has exemplified what a true veteran is. It was actually Marcus’s idea to match whatever I donated to the cause of my choice instead of just a cash donation, which I 100% agreed with,” the rookie corner also shared. “It means a lot coming from Marcus who has not only proved to be a leader on the field but in his community as well. Being able to do a similar act that he regularly partakes in giving back to his community and culture is something that has always been admired, and I’m honored he wanted to be a part of that process with me and mine.”

It’s another way Mariota is making a profound impact on the team that he’s thrown just 44 passes for, and an example of how some of the best parts of this team don’t make the highlight reels but deserve as much attention as any play on the field gets.