Jiffy Jeff wrote:

Just wanting to lighten up the conversation now that we have a season to look forward to...

If you had to pick one- just one- player from the history of Duck football to be its ambassador, who would that player be?  Does not matter if the player is alive or passed on, all that matters is that he played at least one down for the team.  If you can't pick just one, what is your short list?

Discuss...

Well, that list is very long, and goes back years. I'll stick with our Heisman QB, Marcus , but there are so many others who were great players and representatives of the University of Oregon.

Tie: Cliff Harris and Colt Lyerla! 😱 Just kidding.

Mariota is an obvious modern era choice. Fouts from a different era is good too.

Staying in the modern era(say from the year 2000) and going below the radar of sorts, I like guys who did their job and what the coaches asked for 4-years without all the headlines...

OFFENSE: Byron Marshall...RB, WR and KR. First player in conference history to rush for over 1,000 yards and accumulate over 1,000 receiving yards in their career.

DEFENSE: Eddie Pleasant. Came to Oregon as a 3* player...as a senior was first-team All Pac-12 by coaches. Co-winner of Most Inspirational Player on Ducks(voted by players). So many games he made 1 or 2 key plays.

Honorable Mention: Nate Costa...a total class act.

Heavy lifting to be sure considering the sheer numbers to choose from.  My choice is also from the modern era (my Duck life pretty much starting in 1988), and my choice is:

Joey Heisman

I like the idea of the underground honorable mention list.  In there I would have to place Kevin Mitchell, Pat Johnson, Latin Berry and Justin Peele for starters...  

Without thinking about it Marcus came to my mind first and Joey wasn't second. Marcus certainly doesn't need an explanation. Like others have have said Joey has always seemed like a really good person off the field. I used to play tennis with a guy who taught him how to play the piano. He had nothing but good things to say about the family. Fouts and a number of other mentions all make sense. 

I'll throw out one not mentioned being Penei. Sure, he hasn't even been drafted yet, but he's a good one to represent the current era. A winner of the Outland trophy and Rose Bowl and one of the best lineman to ever play college football. HIs family and character might be the best reason to choose him though. He comes from such a great family and also represents the current Ducks team and staff that operate as a family. Not many programs have the type of atmosphere that the Ducks have and Penei couldn't represent this any better.