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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Marcus Mariota faced the heat for a good cause this week, eating three hot peppers as apart of the ALS Pepper Challenge. Mariota challenged three others to participate in the challenge including his left tackle Taylor Lewan and his brother, Matt. Lewan has already accepted the challenge saying via Twitter "Not tight Marcus.. not tight.. but I'm in! Let's do this!!!!! #NoBadPeppers." The Tennessee Titans starting quarterback was impressive munching on the first green pepper without much reaction before spending a little more time with the second red pepper to get it down. The heat became apparent as he bit into the final orange pepper, he shook his head, winced and said "fellas, good luck." Mariota participated in the ALS challenge on behalf of former University of Oregon student Osiel Mendoza, who he calls "my guy" in the video. Mendoza, who went to school with Mariota and worked as an ambassador with the football team, was diagnosed with ALS as a then 21-year-old in 2016. The ALS therapy development institute is nearly halfway to their pepper challenge goal of raising $1 million for ALS research. Shaquille O'Neil, Charles Barkley and Paul Pierce are among other sports stars who have participated in the challenges. AlS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- is a terminal disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It currently has no cure. It's a special cause for the Titans as well. Former Titans linebacker Tim Shaw, a 2017 team captain, was diagnosed with ALS in 2014. He has spent much of the last two years around the Titans facility with the team giving inspiration to players and the organization as a whole.
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