Marcus Mariota just said something that Commanders fans never expected

Marcus Mariota came close to causing an upset of epic proportions against the Denver Broncos. But aside from his encouraging outing, a contentious issue arose during the prime-time broadcast, leaving fans perplexed.

Now, they have clarity.

Mariota gave it his all. He passed for 294 yards and a pair of touchdowns, finding Terry McLaurin in the end zone in overtime to give the Commanders a chance. But the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Throughout the contest, NFL fans across the country noticed something else about Mariota. Specifically, about the way NBC's commentary duo of Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth were pronouncing his name.

Apparently, we've all been saying "Mariota" wrong this whole time

You'd think it wouldn't be that hard to pronounce "Mariota." Yet the NFL has always had trouble with it, dating back to when Roger Goodell announced his No. 2 overall selection in the 2015 draft as Marcus "Mariato," as if he belongs in the lyrics of a Styx song about robots.

Throughout his 11-year career, he has always been "Mari-OH-ta." There's been some confusion about whether it's "Mary-o" or "MAHR-io," but the final syllable has never been emphasized until Sunday Night Football, when he was suddenly "Mario-TAH." Somewhere, Hermione Granger is seething.

Apparently, that's how it's supposed to be.

Mariota was inquired by Commanders insider JP Finlay of NBC Sports about the question that was suddenly on everybody's mind, and seemed to confirm that Collinsworth and Tirico had it right. Perhaps a memo was sent out to the network to set the record straight.

The former Oregon star didn't seem to understand the question, as he only said the first two syllables are indeed "MAHR-io" and not "Mary-o." But when he repeated his own name, it was with a hard emphasis on the "T", just as Tirico and Collinsworth had enunciated.

It isn't important at the end of the day. In traditional American dialect, we tend not to emphasize consonants between vowels the way some other cultures around the world do. A "T" ends up sounding like a "D." An "S" often gets slurred into a "Z." A "P" can even be reduced to a "B" at times. It might technically be "Mario-TAH," but it's easier just to say "Mario-duh."

Ultimately, though, it's his name and therefore his call on how the rest of us should pronounce it. If anything, all of this has made for a fun, lighthearted storyline in a game in which the Commanders fought their best fight on national TV, distracting us from the brutal season they've endured.