[1] After New Jersey and Boston, where he played Pop Warner for the Westford/Littleton Lions, the Marecics moved to the Los Angeles area, where Owen played quarterback for a Pop Warner football team in Agoura Hills coached by former NFL player Clay Matthews.

[3] Marecic played fullback and linebacker for Jesuit, helping the team to Oregon state football titles his junior and senior years.

[1] In his senior season of 2010, Marecic's part-time linebacker assignment became full-time, a decision the coaching staff made reluctantly out of necessity.

They later praised his conditioning for the challenge of participating in so many full-contact plays—including over 100 in a single game—through yoga, stretching, meditation before switching positions, and a thorough academic understanding of the difficulties as a human biology major.

[3][5][6] On January 10, 2011, he was named the inaugural winner of the Paul Hornung Award as the most versatile player in college football.

[10] This was one of four picks the Browns acquired by trading their own first round pick to the Atlanta Falcons; the Falcons drafted future pro-bowler Julio Jones, while the Browns drafted Phil Taylor (DT), Greg Little (WR), Marecic, and Brandon Weeden (QB) and have since been widely criticized.