The NFL’s first game in Spain will match two quarterbacks from the same high school on almost the other side of the world.
Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins and Marcus Mariota of the Washington Commanders will be the starting quarterbacks when their teams square off at 8:30 a.m. CST Sunday at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. NFL Network will televise the game.
“Tua and myself, like we grew up in the middle Pacific far away from here,” Mariota said, “and the fact of the matter that we get a chance to be a part of this game is very special, and I don’t take that for granted at all.
“I do enjoy the experience. I do enjoy being away from the country. And we’re going to do our best to put out a great product and a great show, and I’m excited for the challenge on Sunday.”
Mariota and Tagovailoa attended St. Louis School in Honolulu, with Mariota was five years ahead of Tagovailoa.
At Oregon, Mariota won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award for the 2014 season, when the Ducks lost to Ohio State in the first CFP national-championship game.
At Alabama, Tagovailoa won the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2018, the season after the Crimson Tide won the CFP national-championship game in overtime against Georgia.
“I think a lot of people know I looked up to Marcus,” Tagovailoa said. “When I was in high school, he was at Oregon, then when he transitioned getting drafted to the Tennessee Titans, I was a big fan of him. Still am, just of the person that he is outside of the player and just happy for his success. I know he’s been going through ebbs and flows throughout years and teams, but if you get to know the kind of person he is, I think the playing and whatnot is second.”
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Mariota entered the NFL as the second selection in the 2015 draft. He lost his spot as Tennessee’s starting quarterback during his fifth season. Since then, he has played two seasons as a backup with the Las Vegas Raiders, one season as the Atlanta Falcons’ starter in 2022 and one season as a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mariota is in second season with Washington, where he’s served as Jayden Daniels’ backup. With Daniels down with an elbow injury, Mariota will make his fifth start of 2025 on Sunday.
Tagovailoa entered the NFL as the fifth selection in the 2020 draft. He became Miami’s starting quarterback in the seventh game of his rookie season and has held it since when healthy.
“I think it’s a really cool opportunity for a lot of the kids back at home in Hawaii,” Tagovailoa said, “and a lot of the kids in Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, wherever they are within the Pacific, to be able to see two Polynesian quarterbacks go at it. Then it’s also cool to see everything come full circle with me being able to look up to Marcus to having a chance to play against him.”
Miami and Washington enter Sunday’s game with 3-7 records.
After playing in the NFC Championship Game last season, Washington has lost five in a row. Miami has won two of its past three games, including a 30-13 victory on Sunday that broke a seven-game losing streak to the Buffalo Bills.
“I think that’s a big confidence-booster for our team,” Tagovailoa said. “But we were able to enjoy that win for 24 hours. We want to put that to rest, and we want to focus on the Commanders this week and find every possible way that we can to help win the game, offense, defense collectively with special teams.”
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