58 Facts About Todd Marinovich

Todd Marvin Marinovich was born on Marvin Scott Marinovich on July 4,1969 and is a former American and Canadian football quarterback.

Todd Marinovich played in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and Arena Football League.

Todd Marinovich grew up on the Balboa Peninsula of Newport Beach, California.

Todd Marinovich's mother, Trudi, was a high school swimmer who dropped out of USC to marry Marv.

Todd Marinovich's brother Craig was a star USC quarterback at this time.

Marv later opened his own athletic research center and applied the techniques to his young son, introducing athletic training before Todd Marinovich could leave the crib and continuing it throughout his childhood and adolescence.

Todd Marinovich had a very successful high school career, becoming the first freshman to start a varsity high school football game in Orange County.

Todd Marinovich began his career at Mater Dei High School, a large Catholic high school in Santa Ana, alma mater of the likes of quarterbacks such as Matt Barkley, and Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart, John Huarte, and Bryce Young.

Once there, Todd 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.

Todd Marinovich 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.

Todd Marinovich's father assembled a team of advisers to tutor him on every facet of the game.

Todd Marinovich has never eaten a Big Mac or an Oreo or a Ding Dong.

Todd Marinovich did consume beef but not the kind injected with hormones.

When Todd Marinovich was one month old, Marv was already working on his son's physical conditioning.

Marv invented a game in which Todd Marinovich would try to lift a medicine ball onto a kitchen counter.

Todd Marinovich's 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.

Todd Marinovich entered USC as a Fine Arts major and redshirted the 1988 season behind Rodney Peete.

Todd Marinovich keeps telling me, 'Come on, you've got the rest of your life to fool around.

Against Washington State, Todd Marinovich led a last-minute comeback that became known as "The Drive".

Todd Marinovich entered the 1990 season as a Heisman Trophy candidate, with speculation on his leaving school early for the NFL.

Todd Marinovich was arrested for cocaine possession a month later, and entered the NFL draft after the season.

Todd Marinovich made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football, in an exhibition game against New Orleans on August 12,1991.

Todd Marinovich 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.

Todd Marinovich then won three of his next four games before losing to the Dallas Cowboys.

Schroeder regained the starting job and Todd Marinovich never played again in the NFL.

Todd Marinovich had serious substance abuse issues throughout his NFL career.

Todd Marinovich passed the tests using friends' urine, but after using the urine of a teammate who had been drinking heavily, the test registered a blood alcohol content 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 Todd Marinovich spent 45 days at a rehab facility.

Todd Marinovich's play suffered and his coaches complained he was not grasping the complex offense.

Todd Marinovich failed his second NFL drug test and went back into rehabilitation.

In training camp before the 1993 season, Todd Marinovich failed his third NFL drug test, this time for marijuana, and was suspended for the 1993 season.

In 1994, once Todd Marinovich's suspension was lifted, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed some interest in signing him to be their third-string quarterback behind Neil O'Donnell and Mike Tomczak.

Todd Marinovich, not liking the culture of the NFL, chose not to return to the league.

At one point Todd Marinovich severely cut his hand with a crack pipe during halftime and had to covertly bandage himself.

Todd Marinovich returned to Los Angeles in 2000 and joined the expansion Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League.

Todd 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.

Todd Marinovich's career continued to fall apart, as he was ejected from subsequent games for throwing things at referees, and eventually was suspended from the team in 2001.

Todd Marinovich battled with 25-year-old Jacob Russell for the starting job, which the elder quarterback won.

On September 3,2017, wearing his traditional number 12 that had adorned his jersey both at USC, and for the Raiders, a sober 48-year-old Todd Marinovich stepped back into pro football after a 17-year lay-off.

Todd Marinovich was again arrested on August 26,2007, for possession of drugs and resisting arrest.

Todd Marinovich was offered a suspended sentence in exchange for regular drug testing, therapy, and meetings with a probation officer.

Todd 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.

Todd Marinovich still follows USC football and occasionally attends open practices at USC.

Todd Marinovich 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 Todd Marinovich titled The Todd Marinovich Project, which was shown after the Heisman presentation for 2011.

In 2019, Todd Marinovich served as the quarterbacks coach for the San Diego Strike Force of the Indoor Football League.

Todd 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.

Todd Marinovich was arrested in 1991, while still a student at USC, on cocaine possession.

In 1997, Todd Marinovich was arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana; he served two months in jail, and a third at a minimum-security facility in Orange County known as the Farm.

Todd 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".

Todd Marinovich was ordered to undergo six months of drug rehabilitation followed by six months of outpatient treatment as a result.

Authorities say a naked Todd Marinovich tried to open the sliding glass door of an Irvine home.

Todd Marinovich was cited for trespassing, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

Todd Marinovich was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but could avoid jail time if he had a successful rehab and stayed out of any legal trouble for 36 months.

Todd Marinovich was married to Alexandria "Alix" Bambas and they have a son, Baron, and a daughter, Coski.

Todd Marinovich met his ex-wife while the two were in rehab together and first asked her out on a date while in rehab, which even she acknowledged was rather unorthodox.

Todd Marinovich has since been romantically linked to Ali Smith, the daughter of former USC coach Larry Smith.

Todd Marinovich has a younger half-brother, Mikhail Todd Marinovich, who played college football as a defensive end at Syracuse University.