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Todd Marinovich (1 Viewer)

I'll never forget reading the article stating that Todd's father made his son bring sugar-free cake to a childhood BDay party. If I remember correctly, Todd did not have his first Big Mac until college.

I'm not shifting the blame...maybe just sharing a portion of it with Todd's father.

 
Weiner Dog said:
I'll never forget reading the article stating that Todd's father made his son bring sugar-free cake to a childhood BDay party. If I remember correctly, Todd did not have his first Big Mac until college.

I'm not shifting the blame...maybe just sharing a portion of it with Todd's father.
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Here is the article. Really good read if anyone didn't see it way back when.
Stanford assistant coach Jimmy Walsh was a huge hit in the Marinovich household. Walsh told Todd, "Everything is in place for you to come." Then Todd made his official visit to Stanford on Jan. 17. He loved it. During the flight home, he thought to himself, "This is the place." Most important, perhaps, Todd's dad, Marv, preferred Stanford for his son. And then at 8:06 a.m. last Wednesday, in the principal's office at Capistrano Valley, Marinovich signed a national letter of intent—to play for Southern California.
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In related news, the Chicago Bears just shipped several draft picks and Rex Grossman to Oakland for the rights to Marinovich.

 
I think this opening part of this piece says a lot in hindsight:

"I have to discipline myself," Southern Cal quarterback Todd Marinovich said recently in what sounded like a hope, a prayer and a plea. "I just have to. 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 that very moment, two of them walk by. In shorts. "See what I mean?"

Last season, his first as the Trojans' starting quarterback, Marinovich, now a 21-year-old sophomore, had some awful lows and some awesome highs as he struggled to assume the mantle of leadership in one of the most glamorous positions in sport. It is not yet a snug fit. Indeed, USC quarterback coach Ray Dorr told Marinovich's father, Marv, at the end of the 1989 season, "Todd has to prove his ability before he can prove his leadership. And I don't feel he is as focused as he was. He plateaued after our 10th game. To succeed, he has to really be on a mission for the next three years." Todd shrugs the comment off, saying, "I'm pretty much where I want to be."

The rest

 
His whole story is sad, frankly. I don't know what he would have been otherwise, but what's clear is that his football career was a product of his father's obsession, and it certainly contributed to Todd being a completely imbalanced personality.

I don't spend much time dwelling on it, but it is a sad story.

 
Funny to read about how "pure" this guy was in the papers, magazines, etc. I lived in the same building with him as a freshman at USC...he lived directly above me...and he smoked more weed than Seth Rogen in Knocked Up. All the while, the media was portraying him as something totally different. Unreal.

 
Mr. Nasty said:
Funny to read about how "pure" this guy was in the papers, magazines, etc. I lived in the same building with him as a freshman at USC...he lived directly above me...and he smoked more weed than Seth Rogen in Knocked Up. All the while, the media was portraying him as something totally different. Unreal.
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He was "pure" when he was fully under the control of his father. He was like a Mormon kid at BYU though when he went to USC, and essentially was acting out with his new found freedom.
 
L-O-N-G Esquire article was just posted, but well worth your time. Very sad.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509

For the nine months prior to Todd's birth on July 4, 1969, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. As a baby, Todd was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk; when he was teething, he was given frozen kidneys to gnaw. As a child, he was allowed no junk food; Trudi sent Todd off to birthday parties with carrot sticks and carob muffins. By age three, Marv had the boy throwing with both hands, kicking with both feet, doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and lifting light hand weights. On his fourth birthday, Todd ran four miles along the ocean's edge in thirty-two minutes, an eight-minute-mile pace. Marv was with him every step of the way.
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No wonder the kid couldn't function as an adult. The article also details his 9 arrests and constant drug addiction.
 
Raider Nation said:
L-O-N-G Esquire article was just posted, but well worth your time. Very sad.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509

For the nine months prior to Todd's birth on July 4, 1969, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. As a baby, Todd was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk; when he was teething, he was given frozen kidneys to gnaw. As a child, he was allowed no junk food; Trudi sent Todd off to birthday parties with carrot sticks and carob muffins. By age three, Marv had the boy throwing with both hands, kicking with both feet, doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and lifting light hand weights. On his fourth birthday, Todd ran four miles along the ocean's edge in thirty-two minutes, an eight-minute-mile pace. Marv was with him every step of the way.
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No wonder the kid couldn't function as an adult. The article also details his 9 arrests and constant drug addiction.
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Wow, I knew he was driven by his father, but I hadn't realized the extent to which his childhood was dominated by his dad's vision. And also the strange permissiveness of the partying, after having his wife on such a strict diet in pregnancy and Todd also. That's just really weird that dad would tacitly encourage keggers after being so fanatical about every other aspect of the training regimen...

 
Every day before school, Todd would meet a group at a friend's house and do bong hits. They called it Zero Period. Some of the guys were basketball players, others were into surfing, skateboarding, and music — the holy trinity of the OC slacker lifestyle."Pot just really relaxed me. I could just function better in public," he says. "I never played high or practiced high. It wasn't as hard on my body as drinking. I thought, Man, I have found the secret. I was in love."
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I particularly enjoyed this little snippet.
 
Raider Nation said:
L-O-N-G Esquire article was just posted, but well worth your time. Very sad.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509

For the nine months prior to Todd's birth on July 4, 1969, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. As a baby, Todd was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk; when he was teething, he was given frozen kidneys to gnaw. As a child, he was allowed no junk food; Trudi sent Todd off to birthday parties with carrot sticks and carob muffins. By age three, Marv had the boy throwing with both hands, kicking with both feet, doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and lifting light hand weights. On his fourth birthday, Todd ran four miles along the ocean's edge in thirty-two minutes, an eight-minute-mile pace. Marv was with him every step of the way.
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No wonder the kid couldn't function as an adult. The article also details his 9 arrests and constant drug addiction.
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When Todd and Traci were growing up, Trudi worked as a waitress during the periods when Marv wasn't employed. Sometimes she secretly took Todd to McDonald's. The Chief fed him pizza and beer.
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MYTHBUSTED!
 
:thumbup:

When Todd was one month old, Marv was already working on his son's physical conditioning. He stretched his hamstrings. Pushups were next. Marv invented a game in which Todd would try to lift a medicine ball onto a kitchen counter. Marv also put him on a balance beam. Both activites grew easier when Todd learned to walk. There was a football in Todd's crib from day one. "Not a real NFL ball," says Marv. "That would be sick; it was a stuffed ball."
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As a dad, I could never imagine pushing my sons like this.Link

 
Ron_Mexico said:
fatness said:
Is his father alive now?

I'd sure love to read a current interview with him.
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Raider Nation posted this one.It's a great read.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509
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Thank you, I missed that. That's a very good article.It doesn't sound like his father has learned one damn thing.

Though Traci once wrote of hearing Todd cry in his room, nobody wanted to butt heads with Marv. Like an obsessed scientist, he had tunnel vision. "He didn't do reality too well," Trudi says.
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Despite his ferocious reputation, he seems a sweet man who loves Todd very much. After two divorces, he has only Todd and Traci, who lives a couple hours away, and Mikhail, his son with his second wife, a former dancer.
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Marv's stuff is in storage because he was asked to leave the private high school out of which he'd been working for nearly two years. There was a beef with his young partner. After a display of temper, Marv was asked to vacate by school authorities.
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Raider Nation said:
L-O-N-G Esquire article was just posted, but well worth your time. Very sad.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509

For the nine months prior to Todd's birth on July 4, 1969, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. As a baby, Todd was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk; when he was teething, he was given frozen kidneys to gnaw. As a child, he was allowed no junk food; Trudi sent Todd off to birthday parties with carrot sticks and carob muffins. By age three, Marv had the boy throwing with both hands, kicking with both feet, doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and lifting light hand weights. On his fourth birthday, Todd ran four miles along the ocean's edge in thirty-two minutes, an eight-minute-mile pace. Marv was with him every step of the way.
Click to expand...
No wonder the kid couldn't function as an adult. The article also details his 9 arrests and constant drug addiction.
Click to expand...
Great read :thumbup:
 
Raider Nation said:
L-O-N-G Esquire article was just posted, but well worth your time. Very sad.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509

For the nine months prior to Todd's birth on July 4, 1969, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. As a baby, Todd was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk; when he was teething, he was given frozen kidneys to gnaw. As a child, he was allowed no junk food; Trudi sent Todd off to birthday parties with carrot sticks and carob muffins. By age three, Marv had the boy throwing with both hands, kicking with both feet, doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and lifting light hand weights. On his fourth birthday, Todd ran four miles along the ocean's edge in thirty-two minutes, an eight-minute-mile pace. Marv was with him every step of the way.
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:lmao: Maybe on his 14th birthday...
 
Ed Wood said:
Raider Nation said:
L-O-N-G Esquire article was just posted, but well worth your time. Very sad.

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/t...marinovich-0509

For the nine months prior to Todd's birth on July 4, 1969, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. As a baby, Todd was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk; when he was teething, he was given frozen kidneys to gnaw. As a child, he was allowed no junk food; Trudi sent Todd off to birthday parties with carrot sticks and carob muffins. By age three, Marv had the boy throwing with both hands, kicking with both feet, doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and lifting light hand weights. On his fourth birthday, Todd ran four miles along the ocean's edge in thirty-two minutes, an eight-minute-mile pace. Marv was with him every step of the way.
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:lmao: Maybe on his 14th birthday...
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That's a typo. It should read "Todd was dragged four miles..."
 
I've often wondered if the character of the phenom freshman QB and his crazy dad on this season's Friday Night Lights are based on Todd/Marv Marinovich. Not that it's a unique story, but it seems like they might've based it on this story, at least partially.

 
The 90-minute story on Todd is on ESPN2 right now.

We are ten minutes in and I can already tell you that his father is straight-up NUTS.

 
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I am only 30 minutes into this and I am shocked that he didn't turn more into a mess. It is a good thing that someone introduced him to pot instead of something really bad because it was a obvious that he needed an escape desperately. It is like when Chris Rock talked about OJ "I don't condone it but I understand".

Every parent with a prospect athlete should be required to watch this whole thing as a lesson to how you should not treat your kid

 
Without Davis around anymore, I'm not sure if this gets him a tryout with the Raiders anymore. Jail and crazy special might have worked in the past.

 
I saw the commercial for this documentary a week or so ago, and could not find it in my ESPN2 programming at all. So, I set up to record all ESPN Films episodes, and it did not record.... The current episodes showing are SEC and Rocky related....

anyone else have same thing happen? Would love to see this.

 
'ramsfan said:
I saw the commercial for this documentary a week or so ago, and could not find it in my ESPN2 programming at all. So, I set up to record all ESPN Films episodes, and it did not record.... The current episodes showing are SEC and Rocky related....anyone else have same thing happen? Would love to see this.
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It's not a "30 for 30" program. It's actually part of the "Year of the Quarterback" series.Next showings (EST):12am WED - ESPN211pm WED - ESPN21am FRI - ESPN2
 
'Raider Nation said:
'ramsfan said:
I saw the commercial for this documentary a week or so ago, and could not find it in my ESPN2 programming at all. So, I set up to record all ESPN Films episodes, and it did not record.... The current episodes showing are SEC and Rocky related....anyone else have same thing happen? Would love to see this.
Click to expand...
It's not a "30 for 30" program. It's actually part of the "Year of the Quarterback" series.Next showings (EST):12am WED - ESPN211pm WED - ESPN21am FRI - ESPN2
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thanks a bunch Raider Nation!this show was advertised different ways, ESPN Films, 30 for 30 on the ESPN website, etc... never "Year of the Quarterback", and my TV services only is able to search by first words in a show, but I was able to find it now and set to record, awesome!Carl
 
How was he able to declare for the draft after his sophomore season? I didn't think he redshirted at USC so how did that happen then.

 
'Raider Nation said:
The 90-minute story on Todd is on ESPN2 right now.We are ten minutes in and I can already tell you that his father is straight-up NUTS.
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It was a fascinating documentary. His father was an absolute lunatic and not sure how the mom just let it happen.It's pretty remarkable that Marinovich possesses so many talents. While it was hard to tell how good of a musician he was from the short clips, he was at least good enough to be part of a band getting club gigs and while his artwork wasn't anything amazing, he does obviously have some talent in that realm as well.
 
I got to watch the first 15 minutes before I headed to work today and I'm glad I recorded it. To be nice, Marv Marinovich definitely went overboard with his son. The sad part for Marv is if he just let his son have some balance Todd still would have been ahead of the game and had a healthier social life. Todd Marinovich seems like a shy but likeable guy. The diet thing wasn't as big of a deal as his father's fanaticism, which he took out on his son. Certainly the diet was part of it but again a little more moderation and he doesn't push his wife and son over the edge.

It was fascinating to learn that Marv was the first ever NFL strength and conditioning coach and his knowledge helped create the workouts we see at the combine.

 
DVR'd the show and just finished watching it. I enjoy stories of redemption and this ranks up there with some of the best. I thought it was particularly cool to see Todd with his dad and family at a USC game.

I loved the song at the closing credits. "Amazing" by the Forster Family. Can't find much on it, but here is the song if anyone is interested.

 
'skillz said:
How was he able to declare for the draft after his sophomore season? I didn't think he redshirted at USC so how did that happen then.
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Just spitballing here, but I'm not sure if the NFL had a minimum age requirement at the time. Tommy Maddox left after his sophomore year around the same time.
 
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