Marcus Mariota Brother Matt Mariota Is A Linebacker – All About Their Family

Matt Mariota, the brother of Marcus Mariota, is a former tight end of the Oregon Ducks. The 6 ft 2 player graduated from the St Louis School in 2015 and later joined the University of Oregon.

Many younger siblings try their best to stay away from the same university as their brothers come from, but that was not the case with Matt. Instead of running away from it, he chose to run toward it. 

Matt Mariota chose the University of Oregon as the place where his brother set several records and won every major individual quarterback award, and won the 2014 Heisman Trophy.

Matt wouldn’t have chosen the University of Oregon if he had received a scholarship from Honolulu’s Saint Louis School and didn’t attract much interest from anywhere else, unlike his brother. Matt was not able to break into the NFL.

Speaking to USA Today in 2017, Matt said his brother had been the biggest offensive influence in his career and heaped praises on his elder brother. Matt said, “He’s actually really helpful. He and I, we’ll text each other after every practice. He wants to see some film; he’ll criticize me on certain stuff.”

Marcus Mariota was born to parents Toa Mariota and Alana Deppe-Mariota in 1993. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, alongside his younger brother Matt Ryan.

Toa Mariota, the father of Marcus Mariota, did not want his son to play football. It was Marcus’ mother that allowed him to play the sport. 

The quarterback’s father grew up in American Somoa and later moved to Hawaii to enroll at Chaminade University. He earned a degree in criminal justice and is currently working with the Department of Homeland Security.

Alana Deppe-Mariota, the mother of Marcus Mariota, is of German descent and was an athlete herself. And the mother of the two football players chose to stay at her local place Chaminade, turning down a swimming scholarship from Pepperdine.

A star football player, Marcus made headlines after he made a front-flip touchdown in college. And if there was someone unhappy with the NFL player’s antic, then his mother texted him not to do that again.

It’s not as if Toa and Alana have focused only on their elder son. Alana previously said that their younger son Matt is the best athlete in the family. 

Marcus Mariota comes from a family of mixed ethnicity. His father is of Samoan descent and his mother is of German descent. Marcus’ family made sacrifices to see their son succeed on the football pitch.

Toa and Alana sold their house in Hawaii to help their son break into football. His parents spent tons of money so that they could send their son to various elite football camps. It was their Marcus was able to meet coaches who recognized his talent.

Last year the quarterback married his longtime girlfriend and high school sweetheart Kiyomi Cook on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. Kiyomi Cook was on the soccer team of the University of Oregon and played as a midfielder.

She graduated from Sam Barlow High School and was an integral part of the team. Marcus and his wife both are away from social media with Mariota declaring in 2015 that he doesn’t participate in social media. 

Cook earned her degree in BS in Human Physiology and Psychology in 2015 and worked as a soccer coach at the  University School of Nashville from 2015 to 2019 and at Father Ryan High School from 2016 to 2020.

The couple is yet to have children and with Marcus trying his best to recreate his golden form of college days in the NFL it might be some time before we hear about the couple being parents.