Todd Marinovich
Encyclopedia
Todd Marvin Marinovich is a former American
and Canadian football
quarterback
. He played for the Los Angeles Raiders
of the National Football League
, and also in the Canadian Football League
and Arena Football League. Marinovich is known for the well-documented, intense focus of his training as a young athlete, and his brief, unsuccessful career upon reaching the professional leagues due to personal problems.
of Newport Beach, California
. His father, Marv Marinovich
, had been a lineman and a captain for the University of Southern California
(USC) Trojans during the 1962 national championship season
, and player in the 1963 Rose Bowl
. Marinovich's mother, Trudi (née
Fertig), was a high school swimmer who dropped out of USC to marry Marv. Her brother Craig
was a star USC quarterback at this time.
After harming his own NFL lineman career by overtraining and focusing too much on weight and bulk, Marv studied Eastern Bloc
training methods and was hired by Oakland Raiders
owner Al Davis
as one of the NFL's first strength-and-conditioning
coaches. Marv later opened his own athletic research center and applied the techniques to his young son, introducing athletic training before Marinovich could leave the crib and continuing it throughout his childhood and adolescence. Marv saw an opportunity to use techniques, focusing on speed and flexibility, that later formed the basis for modern core training. During her pregnancy, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco; as a baby, Marinovich was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk.
. He began his career at Mater Dei High School
, a large Catholic high school in Santa Ana
and alma mater of Heisman Trophy
winner John Huarte
. Despite throwing for nearly 4,400 yards and 34 touchdowns in his two years at Mater Dei, Marinovich transferred to Mission Viejo
's Capistrano Valley High School
due to a perceived lack of offensive line coverage. Once there, Marinovich broke the all-time Orange County passing record and later the national high school record by passing for 9,914 yards, including 2,477 his senior year. He received numerous honors, including being named a Parade All-American, the National High School Coaches Association's offensive player of the year, the Dial Award
for the national high school scholar-athlete of the year in 1987, and the Touchdown Club's
national high school player of the year.
published an article, titled "Bred To Be A Superstar", that discussed his unique upbringing under his father who wanted to turn his son into the "perfect quarterback". The article declared Marinovich "America's first test-tube athlete", and discussed how his mother encouraged his interest in art, music, and classical Hollywood cinema
while banning cartoons as too violent. His father assembled a team of advisers to tutor him on every facet of the game. The article stated that:
Long after Marinovich's professional career had ended, an ESPN
columnist named the elder Marinovich one of history's "worst sports fathers
." Regardless, the Sports Illustrated article was incorrect about his son's self-control. During high school he started drinking in after-game parties and smoked marijuana daily. His use of marijuana grew to the point that he would meet with a group of friends--athletes, skaters, surfers and musicians--every day before school to share a bong
before classes in what they nicknamed "Zero Period." Having previously dealt with social anxiety, Marinovich found marijuana relaxed him and did not affect him later during sporting events. The rumors of his use spread to opposing fans, however, who taunted him with chants of "Marijuana-vich" during basketball games. His parents divorced around the time he transferred high schools, and he lived in a small apartment with his father for his final two high school seasons. Marinovich enjoyed the period, noting: "Probably the best part of my childhood was me and Marv's relationship my junior and senior years. After the divorce, he really loosened up. It was a bachelor pad. We were both dating."
Almost every major college program recruited Marinovich who, as a high school freshman, began getting letters from Stanford
. Despite the family connections to USC he was uncertain whether he fit the program's offense. After a positive visit, however, Marinovich chose the university over recent national champions
BYU and Miami
, as well as Arizona State
, Stanford, and Washington
. Marinovich took his college selection seriously, noting: "This is the biggest decision of my life. It means not only where I will play football but, most likely, who I will marry, who my best friends for life will be, where I will live. It means everything. And the one thing I know for sure is I'm too young to make this kind of decision by myself."
behind Rodney Peete
. Already under intense pressure as a high school prospect, the combination of high expectation and the many new temptations that were prohibited under his strict upbringing soon overwhelmed him. He was torn between embracing the freedom and following his father's teachings, noting that "I'm finally away from my dad telling me everything to do. And I've got to say I have taken advantage of it. Full advantage. He keeps telling me, 'Come on, you've got the rest of your life to fool around. Not now.' I know he's right. But there are a lot of distractions at SC." At one point Marinovich left school in his freshman year to see his mother, stating "I wish I could go somewhere else and be someone else. I don't want to be Todd Marinovich."
Outside of his personal travails, Marinovich's football career for USC had an abrupt start. As a redshirt freshman in 1989
, he was backup to Pat O'Hara
after an unimpressive spring practice; in the fall preseason, however, O'Hara suffered a serious leg injury. Although neither his coaches nor teammates believed that he was ready, Marinovich became the first freshman quarterback to start the first game of the season for USC since World War II
. After an upset loss to Illinois
in part due to a coaching decision to minimize his role, Marinovich improved; he completed 197 of 321 passes during the regular season for 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a 61.4% rate, 0.1% behind Bernie Kosar
's NCAA freshman record. Against Washington State
, Marinovich led a last-minute comeback that became known as "the Drive". He led the offense on a 91-yard march downfield with 11 crucial completions, including a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion
, that prompted former President Ronald Reagan
to call Marinovich to invite him to his home in Los Angeles. The Trojans went 9–2–1, won the Pac-10 conference, and defeated Michigan
in the 1990 Rose Bowl
. UPI
and The Sporting News
named Marinovich the College Freshman of the Year for 1989; he was the only freshman on the All-Pac-10 team and the first freshman quarterback named.
Marinovich entered the 1990 season
as a Heisman Trophy candidate, with speculation on his leaving school early for the NFL. Head coach Larry Smith set for Marinovich the goal of a 70% pass completion rate. However, his play became erratic due to his personal difficulties. After finding out Marinovich had been skipping numerous classes Smith suspended him from the Arizona State game, but his play against Arizona
had been so poor that he might have been kept out of the game regardless. Smith had a difficult relationship with Marinovich, and the relationship worsened when the quarterback began yelling at the coach on national television during a loss in the John Hancock Bowl. Marinovich was arrested for cocaine
possession a month later, and left for the NFL after the season.
the Raiders selected Marinovich in the first round; he was the 24th pick overall and the second quarterback taken—ahead of Brett Favre
—signing a three-year, $
2.25 million deal. Marinovich made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football
, in an exhibition game
against the Dallas Cowboys
on August 12, 1991. Entering the game with 15 minutes remaining, he moved the Raiders downfield, completing three of four passes for 16 yards and a touchdown. He did not start a game until Jay Schroeder
was injured before the final week of the season
, where he impressed observers with 23 completions in 40 passes for 243 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs
in a close loss. Because of this great debut he started the following week against the Chiefs in the playoffs, but was very poor, throwing for just 140 yards with 4 interceptions in a 10-6 loss and smashing a locker room mirror with his helmet after the game.
After the Raiders began 0-2 in 1992
with Schroeder as quarterback, Marinovich became the starter. He threw for 395 yards in a loss in his first start that season and lost the following week as the Raiders started 0-4. He then won three of his next four games before losing to the Dallas Cowboys
. Marinovich's best game during that span was against the Buffalo Bills
on October 11, 1992, in which he completed 11 of 21 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-3 victory. The following week Marinovich started against the Philadelphia Eagles
, seeing three of his first 10 passes intercepted. Schroeder regained the starting job and Marinovich never played again in the NFL.
Marinovich had serious substance abuse issues throughout his NFL career. During his rookie season he increased his partying and drug use beyond marijuana, including taking pharmaceutical amphetamine
s before games. Because of his college arrest for cocaine possession, the NFL required him to submit to frequent drug tests. Marinovich passed the tests using friends' urine but, after using the urine of a teammmate who had been heavily drinking, the test registered a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit and caused the Raiders to force him into rehabilitation
. The Raiders held an intervention
for him after the season, and Marinovich spent 45 days at a rehab facility. In the 1992 season Marinovich shifted to using LSD after games because it would not show up on the drug test. His play suffered and his coaches complained he was not grasping the complex offense. He failed his second NFL drug test and went back into rehab. In training camp before the 1993 season
, Marinovich failed his third NFL drug test, this time for marijuana, and his NFL career was over.
of the Canadian Football League
but blew out his knee on the first day of training camp. During recovery, one of his high school friends introduced him to heroin; soon Marinovich was arrested for drugs and served three months in various jails.
In April 1999, Marinovich was cleared to reenter the NFL but herniated a disk
playing recreational basketball. That summer, he tried out and received interest from the San Diego Chargers
and the Chicago Bears
but failed the physical examination, and signed as a backup quarterback with the BC Lions
of the CFL. Although Marinovich had mostly ceased his drug use, lax enforcement in Vancouver
allowed him to quickly relapse. His use of heroin and cocaine increased and his weight dropped as he would spend almost all of his free time using drugs, and at one point Marinovich severely cut his hand with a crack pipe during halftime and had to covertly bandage himself. Despite being asked to stay with the team for another season, he realized he was in a bad situation and left the team.
Marinovich returned to Los Angeles in 2000 and joined the expansion Los Angeles Avengers
of the Arena Football League. Despite undergoing severe heroin withdrawal
he had a strong season, tying the record for most touchdowns in a single game by throwing ten touchdowns against the Houston Thunderbears
. Marinovich was named to the all-rookie team and as the Avengers' franchise player, but the day he received his signing bonus he was arrested for buying heroin. Marinovich's career continued to fall apart, as he was ejected from subsequent games for throwing things at referees and eventually suspended from the team in 2001
.
Despite moments of brilliance, Marinovich's professional career is widely considered to be a bust. In 2004, Marinovich was included in ESPN.com
's list of The 25 Biggest Sports Flops, coming in at fourth on the ESPN.com editors' list, and seventh on the readers' list. His name, along with that of Ryan Leaf
, is often used as an eponym
for a highly vaunted football player who turns out to be a huge disappointment.
; when he was arrested in 2004 for skateboarding in a prohibited area, police found methamphetamine
s and syringes on him. In May 2005, he was charged with violating probation, but avoided jail by entering an inpatient treatment program. For the next year, Marinovich was in and out of rehab facilities. He was again arrested on August 26, 2007 for possession of drugs and resisting arrest. He was offered a suspended sentence in exchange for regular drug testing, therapy, and meetings with a probation officer. Marinovich began working several part time jobs, including scraping barnacles off of boats, leading weekly group meetings at a rehab center, painting murals in residential homes, and as a private quarterback coach.
Marinovich still follows USC football and occasionally attends open practices at USC. He also acts as a private quarterback coach.
He is currently living in Orange County and has an online art gallery, featuring original works of impressionist-style paintings, drawings and sculptures, many with sports-related themes.
He is rumoured to be taking over from Gary Imlach for the 2011 season as the host of the Sunday Night Football coverage on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. However, at the last minute he pulled out and Channel 4 are now looking at Andy Steggall or Elton Welsby as options.
alone. He was arrested in 1991, while still a student at USC, on cocaine possession. In 1997 Marinovich was arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana and served two months in jail and a third at a minimum-security facility in Orange County known as the Farm. In April 2000, he was arrested for sexual assault
. followed by a 2001 arrest on suspicion of heroin.
In August 2004, he was arrested by Newport Beach police for skateboarding in a prohibited zone. Marinovich was arrested in a public bathroom in Newport Beach, California
in May 2005, after being found with apparent drug
paraphernalia; he gave his occupation as "unemployed artist" and "anarchist". Marinovich was ordered to undergo six months of drug rehabilitation followed by six months of outpatient treatment as a result. In August 2007, Marinovich was arrested and charged with felony drug possession and resisting a police order after being stopped for skateboarding near the Newport Pier
boardwalk. On 30 October 2007 he pleaded guilty to felony possession of a small amount of methamphetamine and misdemeanor syringe possession and resisting arrest. Orange County Superior Court Commissioner James Odriozola decided to give Marinovich another chance at rehabilitation and released him to a rehab program in Laguna Beach.
During a period of sobriety from 2007-8, Marinovich worked with Todd Kramer, founder of the Kramer Center at Newport Beach, and the National Drug Treatment Center to help young athletes overcome addiction and to stay clean. In August 2008, after one year of sobriety, Todd Marinovich was hired as a lecturer by Newport Coast Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Newport Beach.
On April 3, 2009 he was arrested in Newport Beach after he failed to appear in court for a progress review on his rehabilitation related to his 2007 arrest. He was ordered to be held in jail without bail until his May 4 hearing before the Orange County Superior Court.
Marinovich has a younger half-brother named Mikhail Marinovich who plays college football as defensive end
at Syracuse University
. Mikhail enrolled in spring of 2008 and made news when he and a friend were arrested for breaking into a gym equipment room after drinking; Todd Marinovich warned him: "Don't be stupid. You're a Marinovich. You have a target on your back."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
. He played for the Los Angeles Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, and also in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
and Arena Football League. Marinovich is known for the well-documented, intense focus of his training as a young athlete, and his brief, unsuccessful career upon reaching the professional leagues due to personal problems.
Early development
Marinovich was born Marvin Scott but his mother later changed his name to Todd Marvin. He grew up on the Balboa PeninsulaBalboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California
The Balboa Peninsula is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is named for the famous Spanish explorer, Vasco Núñez de Balboa....
of Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
. His father, Marv Marinovich
Marv Marinovich
Marv Marinovich is a retired American football offensive guard and sports trainer.-Early years:...
, had been a lineman and a captain for the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC) Trojans during the 1962 national championship season
1962 college football season
During the 20th Century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in...
, and player in the 1963 Rose Bowl
1963 Rose Bowl
The 1963 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1963 at the end of the 1962 college football season. It was the 49th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans defeated the Wisconsin Badgers, 42–37...
. Marinovich's mother, Trudi (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Fertig), was a high school swimmer who dropped out of USC to marry Marv. Her brother Craig
Craig Fertig
-External links:...
was a star USC quarterback at this time.
After harming his own NFL lineman career by overtraining and focusing too much on weight and bulk, Marv studied Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
training methods and was hired by Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
owner Al Davis
Al Davis
Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...
as one of the NFL's first strength-and-conditioning
Strength training
Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles. There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the use of gravity or elastic/hydraulic forces to oppose muscle contraction...
coaches. Marv later opened his own athletic research center and applied the techniques to his young son, introducing athletic training before Marinovich could leave the crib and continuing it throughout his childhood and adolescence. Marv saw an opportunity to use techniques, focusing on speed and flexibility, that later formed the basis for modern core training. During her pregnancy, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco; as a baby, Marinovich was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk.
High school career
Marinovich had a very successful high school career, becoming the first freshman to start a high school football game in Orange CountyOrange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
. He began his career at Mater Dei High School
Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California)
Mater Dei High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational secondary school in Santa Ana, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. With an enrollment of 2,100 students Mater Dei High School is one of the largest Catholic high schools in the United States...
, a large Catholic high school in Santa Ana
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
and alma mater of Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner John Huarte
John Huarte
John Gregory Huarte is a former American football quarterback and the 1964 Heisman Trophy winner.-Early years:Huarte played for the University of Notre Dame after graduating from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. During his sophomore and junior years at Notre Dame, he played for...
. Despite throwing for nearly 4,400 yards and 34 touchdowns in his two years at Mater Dei, Marinovich transferred to Mission Viejo
Mission Viejo, California
Mission Viejo is a city located in southern Orange County, California, U.S. in the Saddleback Valley. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States, and is rivaled only by Highlands Ranch, Colorado, in its size...
's Capistrano Valley High School
Capistrano valley high school
Capistrano Valley High School is a public high school at the southern border of Mission Viejo, California that belongs to the Capistrano Unified School District. It is set on a hilltop overlooking the I-5 freeway corridor and Saddleback Mountain. It is located on Via Escolar, off the Avery exit of...
due to a perceived lack of offensive line coverage. Once there, Marinovich broke the all-time Orange County passing record and later the national high school record by passing for 9,914 yards, including 2,477 his senior year. He received numerous honors, including being named a Parade All-American, the National High School Coaches Association's offensive player of the year, the Dial Award
Dial Award
For the literary award presented by The Dial magazine in the 1920s, see The Dial.The Dial Award was presented annually by the Dial Corporation to the male and female American high-school athlete/scholar of the year.-Awardees:...
for the national high school scholar-athlete of the year in 1987, and the Touchdown Club's
Washington D.C. Touchdown Club
The Washington D.C. Touchdown Club was started in 1935 with a passion for charity and sports. In the ensuing years the Club has benefited many local charities as well as providing scholarships to deserving student/athletes....
national high school player of the year.
National attention
Marinovich's unique development led to growing media attention. In January 1988, he appeared on the cover of California magazine with the headline "ROBO QB: THE MAKING OF A PERFECT ATHLETE." In February Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
published an article, titled "Bred To Be A Superstar", that discussed his unique upbringing under his father who wanted to turn his son into the "perfect quarterback". The article declared Marinovich "America's first test-tube athlete", and discussed how his mother encouraged his interest in art, music, and classical Hollywood cinema
Classical Hollywood cinema
Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative, are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between roughly the 1910s and the early 1960s.Classical style is...
while banning cartoons as too violent. His father assembled a team of advisers to tutor him on every facet of the game. The article stated that:
Long after Marinovich's professional career had ended, an ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
columnist named the elder Marinovich one of history's "worst sports fathers
Stage mother
In the performing arts, a stage mother is a term for the mother of a child actor. The mother will often drive her child to auditions, make sure he or she is on the set on time, etc...
." Regardless, the Sports Illustrated article was incorrect about his son's self-control. During high school he started drinking in after-game parties and smoked marijuana daily. His use of marijuana grew to the point that he would meet with a group of friends--athletes, skaters, surfers and musicians--every day before school to share a bong
Bong
A bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...
before classes in what they nicknamed "Zero Period." Having previously dealt with social anxiety, Marinovich found marijuana relaxed him and did not affect him later during sporting events. The rumors of his use spread to opposing fans, however, who taunted him with chants of "Marijuana-vich" during basketball games. His parents divorced around the time he transferred high schools, and he lived in a small apartment with his father for his final two high school seasons. Marinovich enjoyed the period, noting: "Probably the best part of my childhood was me and Marv's relationship my junior and senior years. After the divorce, he really loosened up. It was a bachelor pad. We were both dating."
Almost every major college program recruited Marinovich who, as a high school freshman, began getting letters from Stanford
Stanford Cardinal football
The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program, has a highly successful football tradition. The...
. Despite the family connections to USC he was uncertain whether he fit the program's offense. After a positive visit, however, Marinovich chose the university over recent national champions
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
BYU and Miami
Miami Hurricanes football
The Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...
, as well as Arizona State
Arizona State Sun Devils football
The Arizona State Sun Devils' football program represents Arizona State University in college football, and competes in NCAA Division I FBS as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference....
, Stanford, and Washington
Washington Huskies football
College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference championships, seven Rose Bowl titles, and three national championships. Washington's all-time record of 653-398-50 ranks 20th by all-time winning percentage and 21st by...
. Marinovich took his college selection seriously, noting: "This is the biggest decision of my life. It means not only where I will play football but, most likely, who I will marry, who my best friends for life will be, where I will live. It means everything. And the one thing I know for sure is I'm too young to make this kind of decision by myself."
College career
Marinovich entered USC as a Fine Arts major and redshirted the 1988 season1988 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Notre Dame winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34-21 defeat of previously unbeaten West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona....
behind Rodney Peete
Rodney Peete
Rodney Peete is a former American football quarterback from the University of Southern California who played in the National Football League for 16 years. He retired in 2004 and is now in broadcasting.-Early life:...
. Already under intense pressure as a high school prospect, the combination of high expectation and the many new temptations that were prohibited under his strict upbringing soon overwhelmed him. He was torn between embracing the freedom and following his father's teachings, noting that "I'm finally away from my dad telling me everything to do. And I've got to say I have taken advantage of it. Full advantage. He keeps telling me, 'Come on, you've got the rest of your life to fool around. Not now.' I know he's right. But there are a lot of distractions at SC." At one point Marinovich left school in his freshman year to see his mother, stating "I wish I could go somewhere else and be someone else. I don't want to be Todd Marinovich."
Outside of his personal travails, Marinovich's football career for USC had an abrupt start. As a redshirt freshman in 1989
1989 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its third National Championship during the 80s, cementing its claim as the decade's top team, winning more titles than any other program....
, he was backup to Pat O'Hara
Pat O'Hara
Patrick O'Hara is an arena football coach and retired quarterback. He is currently the head coach of the New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 10th round of the 1991 NFL Draft...
after an unimpressive spring practice; in the fall preseason, however, O'Hara suffered a serious leg injury. Although neither his coaches nor teammates believed that he was ready, Marinovich became the first freshman quarterback to start the first game of the season for USC since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After an upset loss to Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
in part due to a coaching decision to minimize his role, Marinovich improved; he completed 197 of 321 passes during the regular season for 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a 61.4% rate, 0.1% behind Bernie Kosar
Bernie Kosar
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Kosar, Jr. is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. Kosar played for the Cleveland Browns from 1985 to 1993 and then finished his career with the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins.-Early life and high school career:A Hungarian-American...
's NCAA freshman record. Against Washington State
Washington State Cougars football
The Washington State Cougars football team is the intercollegiate football team of Washington State University. The team is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference...
, Marinovich led a last-minute comeback that became known as "the Drive". He led the offense on a 91-yard march downfield with 11 crucial completions, including a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion
Two-point conversion
In American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
, that prompted former President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to call Marinovich to invite him to his home in Los Angeles. The Trojans went 9–2–1, won the Pac-10 conference, and defeated Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
in the 1990 Rose Bowl
1990 Rose Bowl
The 1990 Rose Bowl was the 76th Rose Bowl Game. The game was a rematch of the 1989 Rose Bowl, won by Michigan, 22-14. Gaining a measure of revenge, the USC Trojans defeated the Michigan Wolverines 17-10. USC running back Ricky Ervins was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game...
. UPI
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
and The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
named Marinovich the College Freshman of the Year for 1989; he was the only freshman on the All-Pac-10 team and the first freshman quarterback named.
Marinovich entered the 1990 season
1990 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split championship and the ensuing controversy led to the creation of the Bowl Coalition, a precursor to the Bowl Championship Series. The title was split between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets...
as a Heisman Trophy candidate, with speculation on his leaving school early for the NFL. Head coach Larry Smith set for Marinovich the goal of a 70% pass completion rate. However, his play became erratic due to his personal difficulties. After finding out Marinovich had been skipping numerous classes Smith suspended him from the Arizona State game, but his play against Arizona
Arizona Wildcats football
The Arizona Wildcats football team is the football team of the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The team competes in the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level.-Early years:...
had been so poor that he might have been kept out of the game regardless. Smith had a difficult relationship with Marinovich, and the relationship worsened when the quarterback began yelling at the coach on national television during a loss in the John Hancock Bowl. Marinovich was arrested for cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
possession a month later, and left for the NFL after the season.
NFL
At the 1991 NFL Draft1991 NFL Draft
The 1991 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Manhattan, New York...
the Raiders selected Marinovich in the first round; he was the 24th pick overall and the second quarterback taken—ahead of Brett Favre
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...
—signing a three-year, $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2.25 million deal. Marinovich made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
, in an exhibition game
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
against the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
on August 12, 1991. Entering the game with 15 minutes remaining, he moved the Raiders downfield, completing three of four passes for 16 yards and a touchdown. He did not start a game until Jay Schroeder
Jay Schroeder
Jay Brian Schroeder is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League who played for the Washington Redskins , Los Angeles Raiders , Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals .He attended Palisades High School and was a high school football teammate of actor...
was injured before the final week of the season
1991 NFL season
The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills....
, where he impressed observers with 23 completions in 40 passes for 243 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
in a close loss. Because of this great debut he started the following week against the Chiefs in the playoffs, but was very poor, throwing for just 140 yards with 4 interceptions in a 10-6 loss and smashing a locker room mirror with his helmet after the game.
After the Raiders began 0-2 in 1992
1992 NFL season
The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League.Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots–Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18. Both teams originally had that...
with Schroeder as quarterback, Marinovich became the starter. He threw for 395 yards in a loss in his first start that season and lost the following week as the Raiders started 0-4. He then won three of his next four games before losing to the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
. Marinovich's best game during that span was against the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on October 11, 1992, in which he completed 11 of 21 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-3 victory. The following week Marinovich started against the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, seeing three of his first 10 passes intercepted. Schroeder regained the starting job and Marinovich never played again in the NFL.
Marinovich had serious substance abuse issues throughout his NFL career. During his rookie season he increased his partying and drug use beyond marijuana, including taking pharmaceutical amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s before games. Because of his college arrest for cocaine possession, the NFL required him to submit to frequent drug tests. Marinovich passed the tests using friends' urine but, after using the urine of a teammmate who had been heavily drinking, the test registered a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit and caused the Raiders to force him into rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
. The Raiders held an intervention
Intervention (counseling)
An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs...
for him after the season, and Marinovich spent 45 days at a rehab facility. In the 1992 season Marinovich shifted to using LSD after games because it would not show up on the drug test. His play suffered and his coaches complained he was not grasping the complex offense. He failed his second NFL drug test and went back into rehab. In training camp before the 1993 season
1993 NFL season
The 1993 NFL season was the 74th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time in league history, all NFL teams played their 16-game schedule over a span of 18 weeks. After the success of expanding the regular season to a period of 17 weeks in 1990, the league hoped this new...
, Marinovich failed his third NFL drug test, this time for marijuana, and his NFL career was over.
Post-NFL
After traveling for two years Marinovich attempted to join the Winnipeg Blue BombersWinnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
but blew out his knee on the first day of training camp. During recovery, one of his high school friends introduced him to heroin; soon Marinovich was arrested for drugs and served three months in various jails.
In April 1999, Marinovich was cleared to reenter the NFL but herniated a disk
Spinal disc herniation
A spinal disc herniation , informally and misleadingly called a "slipped disc", is a medical condition affecting the spine due to trauma, lifting injuries, or idiopathic, in which a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion A spinal disc herniation...
playing recreational basketball. That summer, he tried out and received interest from the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
but failed the physical examination, and signed as a backup quarterback with the BC Lions
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...
of the CFL. Although Marinovich had mostly ceased his drug use, lax enforcement in Vancouver
Cannabis in British Columbia
Cannabis in British Columbia relates to a number of legislative, legal, and cultural events surrounding use and cultivation of cannabis in the Canadian province of British Columbia...
allowed him to quickly relapse. His use of heroin and cocaine increased and his weight dropped as he would spend almost all of his free time using drugs, and at one point Marinovich severely cut his hand with a crack pipe during halftime and had to covertly bandage himself. Despite being asked to stay with the team for another season, he realized he was in a bad situation and left the team.
Marinovich returned to Los Angeles in 2000 and joined the expansion Los Angeles Avengers
Los Angeles Avengers
The Los Angeles Avengers was an Arena Football League team based in Los Angeles, California from 2000 through 2008. They folded on April 19, 2009.-History:...
of the Arena Football League. Despite undergoing severe heroin withdrawal
Withdrawal
Withdrawal can refer to any sort of separation, but is most commonly used to describe the group of symptoms that occurs upon the abrupt discontinuation/separation or a decrease in dosage of the intake of medications, recreational drugs, and alcohol...
he had a strong season, tying the record for most touchdowns in a single game by throwing ten touchdowns against the Houston Thunderbears
Houston Thunderbears
The Houston ThunderBears were a team in the Arena Football League that operated from 1996-2001. The team was based in Houston, Texas. Home games were played at the Compaq Center. The team was known as the Texas Terror their first two years in existence before changing the name to the Thunderbears...
. Marinovich was named to the all-rookie team and as the Avengers' franchise player, but the day he received his signing bonus he was arrested for buying heroin. Marinovich's career continued to fall apart, as he was ejected from subsequent games for throwing things at referees and eventually suspended from the team in 2001
2001 Arena Football League season
The 2001 Arena Football League season was the 15th season of the Arena Football League. The league champions were the Grand Rapids Rampage, who defeated the Nashville Kats in ArenaBowl XV.-Standings:* Green indicates clinched playoff berth...
.
Despite moments of brilliance, Marinovich's professional career is widely considered to be a bust. In 2004, Marinovich was included in ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
's list of The 25 Biggest Sports Flops, coming in at fourth on the ESPN.com editors' list, and seventh on the readers' list. His name, along with that of Ryan Leaf
Ryan Leaf
Ryan David Leaf is a former American football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for four seasons...
, is often used as an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
for a highly vaunted football player who turns out to be a huge disappointment.
After football
By 2004, Marinovich was broke and again living on the Balboa PeninsulaBalboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California
The Balboa Peninsula is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is named for the famous Spanish explorer, Vasco Núñez de Balboa....
; when he was arrested in 2004 for skateboarding in a prohibited area, police found methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
s and syringes on him. In May 2005, he was charged with violating probation, but avoided jail by entering an inpatient treatment program. For the next year, Marinovich was in and out of rehab facilities. He was again arrested on August 26, 2007 for possession of drugs and resisting arrest. He was offered a suspended sentence in exchange for regular drug testing, therapy, and meetings with a probation officer. Marinovich began working several part time jobs, including scraping barnacles off of boats, leading weekly group meetings at a rehab center, painting murals in residential homes, and as a private quarterback coach.
Marinovich still follows USC football and occasionally attends open practices at USC. He also acts as a private quarterback coach.
He is currently living in Orange County and has an online art gallery, featuring original works of impressionist-style paintings, drawings and sculptures, many with sports-related themes.
He is rumoured to be taking over from Gary Imlach for the 2011 season as the host of the Sunday Night Football coverage on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. However, at the last minute he pulled out and Channel 4 are now looking at Andy Steggall or Elton Welsby as options.
Legal troubles
Marinovich has had a number of arrests, many of which have been related to his ongoing drug problems, including nine arrests in Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
alone. He was arrested in 1991, while still a student at USC, on cocaine possession. In 1997 Marinovich was arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana and served two months in jail and a third at a minimum-security facility in Orange County known as the Farm. In April 2000, he was arrested for sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
. followed by a 2001 arrest on suspicion of heroin.
In August 2004, he was arrested by Newport Beach police for skateboarding in a prohibited zone. Marinovich was arrested in a public bathroom in Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
in May 2005, after being found with apparent drug
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
paraphernalia; he gave his occupation as "unemployed artist" and "anarchist". Marinovich was ordered to undergo six months of drug rehabilitation followed by six months of outpatient treatment as a result. In August 2007, Marinovich was arrested and charged with felony drug possession and resisting a police order after being stopped for skateboarding near the Newport Pier
Newport Pier
The Newport Pier is one of two piers located within the city of Newport Beach, California, at the center of the Balboa Peninsula. It is 1,032 feet long and registered as California Historical Landmark number 794....
boardwalk. On 30 October 2007 he pleaded guilty to felony possession of a small amount of methamphetamine and misdemeanor syringe possession and resisting arrest. Orange County Superior Court Commissioner James Odriozola decided to give Marinovich another chance at rehabilitation and released him to a rehab program in Laguna Beach.
During a period of sobriety from 2007-8, Marinovich worked with Todd Kramer, founder of the Kramer Center at Newport Beach, and the National Drug Treatment Center to help young athletes overcome addiction and to stay clean. In August 2008, after one year of sobriety, Todd Marinovich was hired as a lecturer by Newport Coast Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Newport Beach.
On April 3, 2009 he was arrested in Newport Beach after he failed to appear in court for a progress review on his rehabilitation related to his 2007 arrest. He was ordered to be held in jail without bail until his May 4 hearing before the Orange County Superior Court.
Family
Marinovich is married to Alexandria, approximately 15 years his junior; they have a son, Baron, and a daughter, Coski.Marinovich has a younger half-brother named Mikhail Marinovich who plays college football as defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. Mikhail enrolled in spring of 2008 and made news when he and a friend were arrested for breaking into a gym equipment room after drinking; Todd Marinovich warned him: "Don't be stupid. You're a Marinovich. You have a target on your back."