Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost recalled Mariota and his family dining out in Eugene two days before a game last year.
"He noticed a couple of guys who had run out of gas across the street," Frost said. "He and his brother left the table, went out and pushed the car 2½ blocks, and came back. ... And they didn't recognize him. He'd rather have it that way."
There was the time that Ducks linebacker Tony Washington's car broke down 90 minutes from campus.
"I needed some transmission fluid," Washington said. "My car wouldn't move at all. It would just go backwards. I was on the side of the road for about an hour. I was trying to contact some people.
"Next thing you know, Marcus, Josh Huff and Bronson Yim rolled up with the transmission fluid, got it into my car and I was able to get to the gas station and make it all the way to Eugene. I remember, at the gas station, trying to give Marcus gas money for coming out. I didn't even know he was coming. He would not let me give me any gas money. It was an hour and a half out from Eugene. It wasn't like it was 10 minutes down the road. I threw the money in the car and ran off."
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott tells a story about an Oregon staff member trying to yank Mariota off the field and toward the locker room after a game, and Mariota pushing him away.
"A kid was there asking for his autograph," Scott said. "Those kind of things when not a lot of people are looking speak volumes as to someone's character. I think that's who he is."
