You can't make this stuff up. Todd Marinovich was born and bred to play quarterback from the womb. His father, Marv Marinovich, was innovative if not abusive. He carefully designed a strict diet and training regimen for Todd that was way ahead of its time. Todd had even achieved Marv's dreams and beyond, for a few years. Todd was named national high school football player of the year and was featured in Sports Illustrated when he was 17. That is when I became aware of him. I was playing QB for my Pop Warner football at the time. I wanted to be like Todd, so I stopped eating fast food.
Todd went on to start at Marv's alma mater, USC, as a freshman. After just 2 years he was taken in the first round by the LA Raiders (also the same team Marv had played for) and started as a rookie. But Marv's dream wasn't exactly Todd's dream. After just 2 years, he was out of the NFL. He had always used drugs to cope with the pressure. Now he was a full blown drug addict. It got so bad that Todd was smoking crack and shooting heroin in the locker room at halftime of his CFL games. Not long after that, Todd Marinovich was a meth addicted skateboarder living in the streets of Newport Beach, CA.
Now Todd is a father and an artist. He loves to create. He paints, he plays music, and he's clean and sober. He is one of the most interesting and complex people I've ever met. My conversation with Todd was nothing less than therapeutic.