Marcus Mariota’s facemask is a unique tribute to his home

When you look at Marcus Mariota’s helmet this season, you might not see much at first. But look closely, and you'll see a special tribute within the bars of the facemask.

Mariota’s bars on his facemask loosely spell out “808” which is the area code in Hawaii. Last season, the NFL didn't allow Mariota to wear the custom design, but this year, the league approved the design.

During his time at Oregon, Mariota wore a facemask with a similar design after he was approached by a Ridell representative from Hawaii. Mariota and his friends came up with the design. You can see the design in the picture below.

Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images

As Mariota says in this article about the facemask from the Titans’ website, the design of the facemask is meaningful to him and he hopes it is just as meaningful to those back home in Hawaii.

No matter where Mariota goes in his NFL career, he’ll always remember where he started.