LOS ANGELES -- The shared experiences in the football realm between Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston and Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota are quite similar. They’ve walked similar paths football-wise and can relate better than most.
If there’s anyone who can empathize with Mariota regarding his recent awards tour and Heisman win, all of which just led back to the practices that are meant to prepare for a title run, it is Winston.
They are both the headliners of the headliners in smallish cities, though there’s more to do in Tallahassee, Florida, than there is in Eugene, Oregon. From the questions regarding their lives and histories, teammates and coaches, plays and games, they’ve fielded them all. The hype, the attention, the eyes -- these two get it and they understand each other in that regard.
But here, in the public light, they couldn’t be more different.
Under the lights with all the microphones and flashing cameras, Winston flourishes. Despite his track record off the field, Winston seemingly could not be more comfortable in this setting.
Mariota, on the other hand, shrinks in his own sweatshirt. When he can deflect a question, he does. When he can avoid this, he will.
This week, he was asked whether he enjoyed events like this -- three days of media, and he said, “No, not really.”
“I don’t like being in the limelight,” Mariota said. “I don’t like the spotlight. I would prefer to just go about my business and not have to deal with some stuff like this.”
After each question his lower lip kind of twitches, and he always looks down as if he’s somehow counting down the number of questions that could possibly be fit in during a 30-minute media conference.
The astonishing part of all this is that if you ask people who have covered Mariota throughout his career, they say he’s light-years better now than he was.
Still, when looking at the two in these settings, their differences are stark. If there were a winner of the news conference, it’d be Winston hands down.
Winston jokes with reporters, wittily turning the answers from one to the next.
One writer asks Winston about his interceptions this season (17), and Winston says he’s not going to blame his receivers because he “forced a lot of passes this year.”
Someone asks a follow-up: “You said you had to force more passes …”
Winston stops him.
“I said,” Winston starts with a smile, “I have forced more passes.”
There’s a difference between “have forced” and “have to force.” Winston recognizes this in a millisecond and catches the reporter off guard with how quickly he responds. But he’s like that. He’s not afraid to jump in and make corrections or jokes or quips. As long as he does it with a smile, most people seem at ease with him.
While he’s moving from room to room, he stands at the back of some media scrums nearly unnoticed by some as he scratches his chin and finally asks his teammates fake questions. He’s frustratingly endearing because his personality allows many to forget his off-the-field transgressions of the past year and a half.
Only when a handful of reporters bring up those questions does the mood shift. Winston is defending himself, though in a very Winston-like manner. He does it with a smile and with media-darling ability.
No one asks Mariota about his perception or off-field distractions or whether there’s something about himself that he’d like people to know.
The non-football questions for Mariota typically range from Hawaii to the awards, and nothing really past that.
Though on Tuesday, someone asked him whether his mom was happy.
“Yes,” Mariota said. “She is.”
But if you were to read just the transcripts, the rest -- the football stuff -- is pretty similar. Each player respects the other. Neither has given a ton of thought to the NFL. The goal is to win the Rose Bowl. They’re not worried about the team’s outside perceptions (Oregon being soft, Florida State being overrated just because it managed not to lose).
As players, these two have walked such similar paths. Off the field, not so much.
But on Thursday, the football part will come together, and Heisman winner will face Heisman winner. But the biggest separation between the two will likely be during the postgame news conference.
