St. Marcus Wins Heisman, Now What?

So much has been made of  Marcus Mariota's fine "character," angelic demeanor, good deeds and extraordinary leadership that there is zero room for doubt.

I have zero doubt that Marcus Mariota is a winner off the field as much as he is on it.

That said, nothing is written in stone. The future awaits.

One slip up by the hero in the next 60 years and the dogs will be unleashed. That is the way the gossip industry--our current mainstream media--works.

The way it works now is to build people up before you tear them down, an accelerated form of construction and demolition.

To giveth celebrity is to potentially taketh it away

If Oregon stumbles in the playoffs--and who knows what will happen there besides the armchair pundits?--the poison pens will strike like flashes of lightning.

That will not be terribly serious, but normative.

However, if Mariota stumbles as a professional, ala Joey Harrington, or this guy yesterday, he becomes fair game for the sports-minded mob.

God forbid he ever commit a transgression off the field more serious than driving his new Maserati too fast through downtown Tampa Bay.

If that happens he becomes fair game for everybody else.

Sainthood is a risky business.  It's too bad society insists on cooking up these fantastic narratives to begin with, because humanity is more complicated than sainthood.

Real life sometimes gets in the way.

Even O.J. would confess to that.


TS