For Duck fans, the College Football Playoff National Championship game was painful to watch. For Oregon’s Heisman winning quarterback and projected top NFL Draft pick Marcus Mariota, the pain was real.
Mariota suffered a sprained shoulder after being driven into the ground unnecessarily by Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa. The injury may keep Mariota from participating in the NFL combine, according to the Star Advertiser.
Mariota has sprained shoulder, might not throw at NFL Scouting Combine http://t.co/FQ3sUxyB8J pic.twitter.com/rhXBaSPpWk
— Addicted To Quack (@AddictedToQuack) January 25, 2015
Mariota chose not to play in the Senior Bowl so he could return to Hawaii for the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony where he was honored as the first Polynesian College Football Player of the Year.
Mariota may miss the NFL Combine to heal his sprained shoulder.
“I had an opportunity to go to the Senior Bowl. But as a family we decided it was best to come here and be a part of this,” Mariota said. ”Being able to meet all these men is pretty remarkable. They paved the way for me and Polynesian athletes everywhere. For us, it’s really just saying, ‘Thank you.'”
The NFL Combine is Feb. 17-23 and Mariota has seen draft projections as high as No.1 overall in the upcoming 2015 NFL Draft.
“Right now we’re still making that decision, whether to throw at the Combine. I had to kinda rest about a week-and-a-half,” Mariota.
Mariota briefly left the game after being aggressively tackled to the ground by Bosa in the national championship game.
It was unknown to many until recently that Mariota had suffered an injury due to the excessive nature of Bosa’s tackle.
Top Photo by John Sperry
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Jordan is a lifelong Duck fan currently living in San Diego. Jordan graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, after serving a prestigious fellowship with the Washington State House of Representatives. Upon graduation, he worked as an English language teaching assistant for the Spanish Ministry of Education’s Ambassadorial Program in Monforte de Lemos, Spain. Jordan has worked as a journalist, writer, and editor in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and California, covering a wide range of topics, including sports, local politics, and crime. He is VERY excited to be writing about his beloved Oregon Ducks.