The year was 2012. A hotshot from Tyler, Texas took the world by storm with a record-setting year in the SEC, becoming the first freshman ever to win the Heisman, in route to a Cotton Bowl winning, 11-2 season. The legend of Johnny Football boomed on the afternoon of November 10 that year and it never looked back. Slaying the Crimson Tide does wonders for creating an icon, after all.

The year was 2013. A prodigy from Hueytown, Alabama took the reins for a star-studded Seminoles team. In his first start, he set the record for single game completion percentage at Florida State (minimum 15 attempts), going 25 of 27 for 356 yards and 4 touchdowns. Three months later, he was hoisting the Heisman and FSU’s third national championship shortly thereafter.

They are the last two Heisman winners and they have firmly entrenched themselves at the epicenter of the sports world. Yet, with both, their off-the-field exploits began to overshadow their athletic accomplishments. Manziel’s name has become synonymous with party animal and Winston’s with immaturity.

Out west, a different star was forming. Marcus Mariota, from Honolulu, Hawaii, was not a prodigy. He was not even a starter until his senior year of high school. Depending on who you ask, he was a two, three or even four star prospect. He was an uncertainty. ESPN rated him as the 123 best QB of the 2011 Class. Meager beginnings, to be sure. But one camp changed everything.

The New York Times’ Tim Rohan noted that during the summer of 2010, Mariota traveled to Oregon to attend a football camp put on by the Ducks. Current Oregon head coach, then offensive coordinator, Mark Helfrich saw something intriguing in the lanky, fleet-footed QB. He traveled to Hawaii to spectate Mariota’s offseason practices and, before watching him play a single varsity game, offered him a scholarship. Only one other school, Memphis, would extend an offer. In his only season as a starter, he led the St. Louis Crusaders to an 11-1 record and a state title.

After redshirting 2011, Mariota was announced as the first freshman to start a season opener for Oregon in 22 years.

While Manziel Mania took the nation by storm, Mariota quietly led the Ducks to 12-1, won the Fiesta Bowl, and finished #2 in the final AP Poll. Their average margin of victory was an astonishing 30.6 points. He became known as the Hawaiian Army Knife, due to his propensity to create in a multitude of ways. In a game against Arizona State, he caught, threw, and ran for a touchdown in the first eighteen minutes of play.

In perhaps the defining game of that season, against the USC Trojans, Mariota completed 20 of 23 passes for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns while rushing 15 times for 96 yards, leading the Ducks to a 61-52 win.

A star was born.

Another outstanding season would follow in 2013. He improved his total yardage, touchdowns, and passer rating. But the season gave way to what became known as the ‘Stanford Problem.’ The one blemish on the 2012 Ducks record was a 17-14 OT loss to the Cardinal, and once again, the Ducks were handed their first loss of the season by Stanford, this time 26-20. Questions of Mariota’s health arose soon after due to his gimpy performance, and it was revealed that he had played the game with a partial MCL tear suffered in the UCLA game the week prior. The Ducks would finish the season 11-2, winning the Alamo Bowl in long time Texas head coach Mack Brown’s final game.

Considered a first rounder by many, Mariota eschewed the NFL Draft to return to Eugene for his junior season to complete his degree. Lost in the news that he is taking two credits this semester (yoga and golf) is that Mariota was taking 20 credit hours in season for the past three years. He is set to graduate this month. While Manziel and Winston were ridiculed and criticized for compromising photos and a continuation of poor choices, Mariota was looked upon as the potential savior of all that the Heisman embodied.

“The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.”

And yet three of the past four Heisman winners, Winston, Manziel, and Cam Newton, have been under investigation by the NCAA and/or faced legal issues during their playing careers. Mariota, on the other hand, was and is spotless. Could he be the one to restore the integrity of the Heisman, while simultaneously keeping viewers in awe with his dynamic dual threat abilities?

The answer is a resounding ‘yes.’

As Helfrich said in the post game trophy presentation of the Pac-12 Championship last Saturday, after one of the most dominating performances of Mariota’s career, “If this guy isn’t what the Heisman Trophy is all about, then I’m in the wrong profession. If you want your son or daughter to have a role model, pick this guy.”

To Mariota’s credit, he turned down Oregon’s offer of a Heisman campaign before the season started, saying, “I didn’t really want all that attention. I’m glad they were kind of able to accept that and respect that decision.”

Turns out he didn’t need a campaign at all. Hours ago, it was announced that Mariota received every first-place vote from writers and editors who work at properties owned by Gannett, parent company of USA Today. He is expected to win in a landslide that might topple Troy Smith’s (2006) record for widest margin of victory.

The difference between this iteration of the Heisman and those of recent years isn’t the level of play, however. True, Mariota has accounted for 53 total touchdowns (38 passing, 14 rushing, 1 receiving), the most by any player since 2008 (ESPN Stats & Info). Yes, he did just break his conference’s record for total yards in a season (4,442). And, sure, he does have the fourth highest passer rating in NCAA history (186.11). But what makes Mariota the man that Eugene, Oregon loves, and the man so very few will ever truly know, is his reclusively polite and charitable disposition. He has created something special in the small town of Eugene, where his exploits aren’t dirty laundry, but a laundry list of good deeds that often go unreported. Former teammate Dustin Haines, who rode with Mariota from practice back to campus frequently, told USA Today that Mariota would stop on the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Coburg Road “every damn day,” even if the light was green, to hand food and water to the homeless. After a heartbreaking loss to Arizona earlier this season, Mariota stopped to talk with some young kids after he spotted one of them wearing his jersey. Recall recent instances of AJ McCarron and Bo Wallace storming off the field after devastating losses, and you can begin to see the acuity this young man carries in controlling his composure. As teammate Austin Daich said earlier this season, “Even all the great stories you hear about him, you still don’t feel like they can explain how good a person he is. The Heisman thing, most guys would let that go to their heads.”

He hasn’t. He won’t. It’s not who he is.

As he told Bleacher Report in October, “In Hawaii, it’s definitely a culture of respect. Certain traits that you kind of [learn] growing up, I guess you’re taught as a kid. Some of which are being humble and respecting others, especially elders, being quiet, letting older people speak.”

The unassuming Marcus Mariota is the brightest star at the biggest stage of his career. On Saturday night, he will walk across that stage on Broadway, into history, and through the periphery of awareness and adoration of millions of homes in America. For all the kids that will be watching, he is their role model.