Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 1, 1 January 2015 — Marcus Mariota wins inaugural Polynesian Gollege Football Player of the Year Award [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Marcus Mariota wins inaugural Polynesian Gollege Football Player of the Year Award

His whirlwind week of honors caps off with Heisman By Lurline McGregor Four days before becoming the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner, loeal boy Marcus Mariota, University of Oregon quarterback and St. Louis School alumnus, was named Polynesian College Football Player of the Year. With those recognitions, he accomplished two firsts - becoming the first Polynesian to win the Heisman and becoming the first winner of the inaugural Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award. In Honolulu, Polynesian Hall of Fame co-founders Ma'a Tanuvasa and Jesse Sapolujointly announced Mariota's selection from a list of

five finalists. "Mariota is a great role model for our youth and a source of great pride for Polynesians everywhere," said Tanuvasa. The other four finalists were Scott Harding (Tuvaluan), University of Hawai'i; Hau'oli Kikaha (Hawaiian/ Samoan), University of Washington; Nate Orchard (Samoan), University of Utah; and Anu Solomon (Hawaiian), Univer-

sity of Arizona. "We wanted this to be a horse race but it wasn't," said KITV4 sports director Robert Kekaula, a member of the selection committee. "All the nominees have strong stats, but when we made the decision two weeks before it was announced, Mariota was playing so well that there was no question of who was on top, the decision was unanimous. He is a perfect representative of

everything this award stands for - a great future ahead of him, integrity and humility. And he's a really niee guy." The other members of the selection eommittee are past college

football head coaches Dick Tomey, LaVell Edwards and Ron McBride, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett, NFL player personnel expert Gil Brandt and inaugural Polynesian Football Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Mawae. "I am very honored and humbled to be the recipient of the first Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award," saidMariota, who is of Samoan ancestry. "I hope this

opens the door for many other Polynesian athletes." Mariota continued his shoutout to his fellow Polynesians and Hawai'i in his Heisman acceptance speech in New York. "To Hawai'i nei, thank you for teaching me humility and respect - two aspects of my life that I will never change," he said in a speech broadcast live on ESPN. "To the Polynesian community, I hope and pray that this is only the beginning. Young Poly athletes everywhere, you should take this as motivation and dream big and strive for greatness." The honors were among many he received in the week leading up to the Heisman announcement on Dec. 13. Mariota was also named Walter Camp Football Foundation National Player of the Year, and won the Maxwell Award, Davey 0'Brien National Quarterback Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame was founded in July 2013, and the first inductees were announced three months later. "It was our intention from the outset to create an award for the best Polynesian College Football Player of the Year," said Sapolu, "but we wanted to start with recognizing the older players first. Onee we got that off the ground we were able to do this. We're also thinking of a NFL Player of the Year Award in the future." The formal presentation of the award will take plaee during the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend at the eelebration dinner on Jan. 23, 2015. The Hall of Fame exhibit is scheduled to open the following day in its new permanent home at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Lā'ie. ■ Lwīine Waiīana McGregor is a writer, television producer and author of Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me.

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Marcus Mariota. - Courtesy: Eric Evans/ GoDucks.com

The Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award will be presented at a ceremony in January. - Courtesy: Polynesian Football Hall ofFame