https://allfalcons.com/marcus-mariota-breaks-silence-on-why-he-left-falcons-after-benching-in-2022-season/?
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota spoke about why he left the team after his benching towards the end of the 2022 season.
🤔
Knee surgery that wasn't on his radar, his team's radar, or his agent's radar until he was told that the rookie was gonna get a shot to start next game.
Sure, fine, take your elective season-ending surgery, but don't try to play it like you had to leave, or like the team and coach that covered for you all season long and gave you a wildly-improbably second chance at being a starter when the rest of the league already knew you were broken somehow owed you something. You got paid millions to live every backup's dream -- a shot at becoming the guy -- and your coach stuck by you long after you blew that chance.
Then you go and make yourself totally unavailable even to be on the bench for the new kid who got comp'd to you and looks up to you?
I really don't understand how Mariota got his "he's a nice guy" reputation, except maybe by contrast to Jameis because they were in the same draft class.