Marcus Mariota is famous for what he did as a football player at Oregon.But many of the skills he showed off as a Heisman Trophy winner for the Ducks have a basis in soccer, the first sport he played as a kid.Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota credits soccer for building “a foundation for me as an athlete.” “I think soccer is a great fundamental sport — I think it built a foundation for me as an athlete,” Mariota said during a visit with The Midday 180 on 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, Tennessee. “Whether that’s my footwork now, or relative to just kind of seeing the field and instincts.”I think soccer is just such a game where you have to understand the complexities and the system of what’s going on, and you have to know that before you get the ball. And once you get the ball, you have to react. I think that has helped my growth not only as a football player but as an athlete.”

Source: Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com