Todd Marinovich Todd Marvin Marinovich ( born Marvin Scott Marinovich on July 4 , 1969 ) 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 for his brief career upon reaching the professional leagues that was cut short primarily because of his addiction to drugs . Early development . Marinovich was born Marvin Scott but his mother later changed his name to Todd Marvin . He grew up on the Balboa Peninsula 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 . High school career . Marinovich had a very successful high school career , becoming the first freshman to start a varsity high school football game in Orange County . He began his career at Mater Dei High School , a large Catholic high school in Santa Ana , alma mater of current USC quarterback Matt Barkley and Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and 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 his parents ' divorce . 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 . 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 Illustrated " 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 : 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 . " College career . Marinovich entered USC as a Fine Arts major and redshirted the 1988 season 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 Sun Bowl . Marinovich was arrested for cocaine possession a month later , and entered the NFL draft after the season . Professional career . NFL . At the 1991 NFL Draft 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 , 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 teammate 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 . Post - NFL . After traveling for two years Marinovich attempted to join the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 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 suffered a herniated 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 . 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 flashes 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 . After football . By 2004 , Marinovich was broke and again living on the Balboa Peninsula ; 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 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 . ESPN released a documentary film about Marinovich titled " " , which was shown after the Heisman presentation for 2011 . 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 , California 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 - 2008 , 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 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 . "