1) Legendary Hawaiian QBs square off
While Madrid will be missing out on one of the NFL’s rising stars in Jayden Daniels, who is out with an elbow injury, fate has led the Spanish contingent to witness a special quarterback matchup. Washington’s Marcus Mariota and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa — two Honolulu-born QBs who had similar paths toward becoming first-round NFL draft picks — will face off for the first time ever in their playing careers. Their storyline is simply remarkable. Mariota, 32, became a mentor to Tagovailoa, 27, when the latter was a fourth-grader participating in a football camp at Saint Louis School in Honolulu, where each eventually won Hawaii Gatorade State Player of the Year awards and state titles in high school. Mariota went on to become Hawaii’s first Heisman Trophy winner and made a National Championship appearance with the University of Oregon in 2014 before Tagovailoa won the 2018 CFP National Championship with the University of Alabama after finishing second in Heisman voting. Mariota (No. 2 overall in 2015) and Tagovailoa (No. 5 overall in 2020) together became the second tandem ever from the same high school to be selected within the top five picks, per NFL Research. Peyton and Eli Manning, out of Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, were the first. On Sunday, Mariota and Tagovailoa will finally square off in the NFL. It will be Mariota’s fifth start this season for the Commanders. He’s been solid in relief of Daniels, producing a 91.9 passer rating with seven total touchdowns. Tagovailoa’s sixth campaign with the Dolphins has been marred by turnovers (league-leading 13 interceptions), but the lefty has been more efficient in recent starts. Nearly 8,000 miles away in Madrid, a pair of Honolulu greats will be looking to make the state of Hawaii proud.
