It finally can be branded.
On Saturday night at the Best Buy Theater in New York City, Marcus Mariota received the 2014 Heisman Trophy to become the first player from the University of Oregon to win the award. He also became the first recipient from the state of Hawaii and the first individual of Polynesian descent to achieve the honor.
His appearance in front of 23 past Heisman winners culminated a week in which Mariota accepted every individual honor he was nominated for.
This one obviously carried more weight, and Mariota admitted it.
“I am humbled to be standing here today and honored by this award,” an emotional Mariota said as he accepted the award. “Thank you Heisman Trust for making this night possible. Everything you do has made so many dreams come true.”
Mariota, who totaled 4,478 yards and 53 touchdowns this season while guiding the second-ranked Ducks to the College Football Playoff, won the award with the 90.92 percent of the total points.
In addition, Mariota’s 91.9 Quarterback Rating led all passers this season and his 68.3 completion ranks second among the last 12 quarterbacks to collect the award.
As his teammates expected – tight end Koa Ka’ai predicted that it would be the shortest Heisman winning speech of all time – Mariota kept his speech straightforward and to the point. Yet, made sure to thank everyone who has helped him along the way.
“To all my teammates, I love every single one of you and I am truly grateful for all the experiences,” Mariota said. “I hope each of you will take pride and understand that this is your trophy.”
Mariota also thanked his family, the St. Louis brotherhood and hoped that  Polynesian athletes everywhere could use this as motivation.
The prohibitive favorite as the college football season concluded, Mariota becomes the fifth consecutive quarterback to win the award. He’ll meet last year’s winner, Jameis Winston, in the Rose Bowl when Oregon plays Florida State Jan 1.
Never one to revel in individual achievements, Mariota followed that same script when speaking about the honor.
“This award goes to my teammates,” Mariota said.
However, it’s hard not to understand why he hoisted the award. Playing with eight different starting offensive line combinations, Mariota led the offense to a mark of 45.6 points per game while guiding the team to a Pac-12 Championship.
Due to that, Mariota received 778 first-place votes, the third-best all time, and swept all six Heisman regions. Mariota beat out Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.
“”This is just a watershed moment, not only for the program but the University of Oregon as a whole,” athletic director Rob Mullens said in a press release. “It’s just been an incredible week: Our coach (Mike Bellotti) goes into the hall of fame, and then Thursday night to have Ifo Ekpre-Olomu be a (Thorpe Award) finalist and to have Marcus basically sweep every award he was nominated for — and then on top of that to have a person of his high character represent us — speaks volumes for our coaches, for our team, for our institution.”
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise