Add Marcus Mariota to the list of players who aren't interested in that special moment where they walk across the stage and give NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a hug after their name is called in the 2015 NFL Draft. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner will instead stay with his family in Hawaii on April 30 and declined an invite to attend the draft in Chicago.
Nobody wants to hug Roger Goodell at the NFL Draft
Marcus Mariota chose to pass on an invite to attend the 2015 NFL Draft.
Mariota, 21, will reportedly invite both NFL Network and ESPN to Hawaii to broadcast his draft-day experience instead. With the Oregon Ducks passer not in Chicago, the NFL could be without the top two quarterbacks in the draft class and the No. 1 pick, with Florida State's Jameis Winston likely to bow out of the event as well.
Winston confirmed previous reports on Tuesday that he was leaning toward not attending the 2015 NFL Draft and instead watching from home. At Florida State’s pro day, Winston told reporters it was still possible that he’d attend the draft, but that he wanted to watch with his grandmother, who has Type II diabetes and can’t travel.
In the latest mock draft from SB Nation’s Dan Kadar, Winston is projected to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first pick and Mariota is slated to the Tennessee Titans with the second pick. That means Goodell could be standing up on stage by his lonesome for a little while.
If neither Winston nor Mariota attend the 2015 NFL Draft, it would likely be the first time since the 1994 NFL Draft that the No. 1 selection was not present. Defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson did not go to New York in 1994 when he was taken with the first pick by the Cincinnati Bengals.
The NFL Draft moved to the Radio City Music Hall in 2006, but was held in different venues in New York City in every year since 1964.
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