Mariano Sori-Marin, a Cuban-American NFL Draft prospect who starred at Minnesota, took several bites out of the Big Apple when the Gophers played Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl last December.
Sori-Marin, a 245-pound linebacker who led Minnesota with 88 total tackles last season and made third-team All-Big Ten, made a food vlog called “Meals With Mariano” about the trip.
The first stop was the Michelin-starred Italian restaurant, Don Angie.
“We actually had to wait for like an hour outside before they opened, and they had four barstools available,” Sori-Marin told The Post in a recent interview. “The food was phenomenal. We got lasagna.”
The next spot was iconic Jewish deli Katz’s, which Sori-Marin loved for being “an old school spot with guys behind the counters yelling.”
From there, it was off to Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles in Chinatown, which Sori-Marin described as being “in the basem*nt of a little shack” and also enjoyed the food.
The final stop was Blue Ribbon Sushi, which was another small establishment with fresh fish.
“We did quite a lot,” Sori-Marin said.
Sori-Marin is considered on the cusp of whether he would be a late-round draft pick or would go undrafted and become a priority free agent.
Over the last several years, a school of thought has emerged that the latter could be more appealing because players can choose their organizations, coaches and systems as opposed to being selected by one team.
“I don’t think either one makes a difference,” Sori-Marin said. “If a team is willing to pick me in the seventh, that means they’re confident in me and being willing to utilize one of their picks means they see value.
“But there’s also benefit in being a priority free agent and you can pick where you go and see where you fit schematically and culturally and on the depth chart.”
Sori-Marin speaks about pursuing a football career in coaching cliches, such as taking things one day at a time and making sure he enjoys what for many people is an anxious pre-draft process, but the ability to commit to living by these types of philosophies can lead some athletes to play bigger than their bodies.
“Every opportunity you get to play football with a group of guys is special, so you just have to appreciate that moment going into it,” he said.
In October, the St. Paul Pioneer Press detailed how Sori-Marin’s family fled Cuba.
Sori-Marin’s great uncle, Humberto, was part of Fidel Castro’s revolution but fled for Miami after discovering the corruption that was happening in land redistribution, Sori-Marin’s father told the outlet.
He joined the CIA’s counter-revolution and was involved in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, and got captured and executed by a firing squad.
“He actually was one of the frontmen,” Sori-Marin’s father told the newspaper. “He came back to the island secretively. I think it was about a week before the actual (invasion). He knew everything that was going to happen. … He got captured (and) it was just a big disaster.”
Sori-Marin’s grandfather, Mariano I, who was Humberto’s brother, resigned from his job as a doctor in Cuba’s health department, and ultimately landed in Lexington, Ky., with his family after defecting from the country (the rest of the family, including Sori-Marin’s father, was granted U.S. visas).
Sori-Marin told The Post that his family’s journey makes him grateful for the opportunities he’s been granted.
“The biggest thing is perspective and appreciation for everything my family went through to get to America and provide opportunity for me to grow up in this country,” Sori-Marin said. “So to be able to play a game for a living, in the NFL, would truly be special. We live in a country where we have so many freedoms and opportunities that aren’t the same as in other parts of the world, so I have gratitude each day.”
