EXCLUSIVE: Once a Raider, Always a Raider: Todd Marinovich Opens Up

"With their first pick, the Raiders select… Todd Marinovich, quarterback, USC."

Once a Raider, Always a Raider

Chosen ahead of Brett Favre, Marinovich signed a three-year deal that seemed to confirm what many had predicted for years: he was built for this moment. But that narrative—of a quarterback engineered for greatness would unravel quickly.

After the Raiders opened their 1992 season 0–2 with Jay Schroeder as starting quarterback, Marinovich replaced him. He lost his first two games but bounced back, winning three of the next four. His best performance came on October 11, 1992, against the Buffalo Bills, when he completed 11 of 21 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns in a 20–3 win.

Aug 29, 1992; Los Angeles, CA, USA: FILE PHOTO; Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich (12) in action against the Houston Oilers during a preseason game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Long Photography-USA TODAY NETWORK | Long Photography-Imagn Images

It was a glimpse of the talent that had made him a first-round pick… and the promise of what he had trained for long before being a Trojan or a Raider.

He was “bred to be a superstar… groomed from infancy to be a top-notch quarterback”, according to a Sports Illustrated article in 1988.

Todd’s father, Marv Marinovich, played for USC in the early ’60s, serving as captain during the 1962 national championship season and appearing in the 1963 Rose Bowl. After his own brief NFL career, Marv was hired by Al Davis to be the NFL’s first strength and conditioning coach. Later, he opened a research facility and focused his methods on his son. Todd was introduced to structured training before he could walk. He was delivered to the football world, molded in a laboratory of expectation.

Marinovich throwing — Sep 20, 1992; Los Angeles, CA, USA: FILE PHOTO; Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich (12) in action against the Cleveland Browns at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Long Photography-USA TODAY NETWORK | Long Photography-Imagn Images

The start of his NFL career in 1992 looked like the beginning of something special.

But just as quickly, it unraveled.

Former Los Angeles Raiders, and USC Trojans QB Todd Marinovich | Photo courtesy of Todd Marinovich

While the story of Todd Marinovich has always been documented in relation to football, the highest of highs and lowest of lows in his life have never been about the game.

Marinovich Played Football, But It Isn't Who He Is

Years of pressure, emotional strain, and unresolved trauma led to substance abuse - first as an outlet, then as a dependency. Arrests followed. Suspensions. Rehab stints. He was soon out of the league. By the time Brett Favre was establishing himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Marinovich’s NFL career was already over.

His career, which once seemed inevitable, became a cautionary tale.

Todd and Trudi Marinovich | Photo courtesy of Lizzy Wright

Marinovich knows he can’t change what’s already been written, and he doesn’t pretend the media got it all wrong. But there were other moments - private, complicated, painful - that couldn’t ever possibly be understood from the outside. One in particular was his complex yet loving relationship with his father, whom he affectionately called “Marv,” just as his teammates and friends did. Marv passed after a devastating battle with Alzheimer's in 2020.

“Every day is game day,” Todd speaks about recovery in the same language of the preparation and teamwork of football. “I wouldn’t get on the field without my guys, and I don’t go through sobriety without my support team.”

Sobriety hasn’t been a straight line. His close friend Marco had been clean for nine years before relapsing and ultimately was lost to addiction. That loss still lingers, but Marinovich continues forward. He now speaks openly about his struggles. In his new book, Marinovich: Outside the Lines in Football, Art, and Addiction, co-authored with writer Lizzy Wright, he focused on the value of truth - something, he says, that’s hard to come by when you’re trapped in addiction.

Marinovich Isn't Entertaining People Anymore, He is Changing Them

NFL Senior Writer On SI, Hondo S. Carpenter, Sr. recently said of his friend Todd Marinovich, "Todd thought his impact was going to be with touching lives with a pigskin in his hand, but the power of this book along with the brilliant writing of Lizzy Wright, is going to change millions of lives."

Carpenter went on to add, "Many thought Todd was born to be a superstar QB, but the stardom has come in the lives that his honest shapes. Many thought he would end up living in infamy in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but instead I believe it will come from changing millions of families, touched by addition becuase he was real."

One of the most difficult but powerful steps in his recovery has been making amends. Every apology came with the game day butterflies.

Todd Marinovich Book Cover | Book Cover redit: BenBella Books

While one of his biggest regrets is the toll that his addictions took on his mother, and he wakes up every day choosing to make it up to her, his most memorable apology was to Raider Nation.

Once a Raider, Always a Raider | Dexter Ernest Wayne Carpenter, On SI

He describes walking into a restaurant frequented by Mark Davis in hopes of reconciling any bridges he feared he’d burned decades prior. That moment changed him. He began to understand the depth of the phrase, “Once a Raider, always a Raider.” Even after decades away from the game, and more than thirty years since throwing a pass, he says he’s still treated like family by the Davis family and Raiders fans.

Las Vegas Raiders Owner Mark Davis | Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

Now living a quieter life in Hawaii where he coaches football, but is far from the spotlight, he's learning that redemption isn’t a moment. It’s a process. It’s a choice. One that he has to make every day. Todd’s son now plays the game on the same fields of memories where Marv would coach him. To this day, his relationship with football is a deeply complicated one of love and hate.

“USC’s battle cry is ‘Fight On,’ and it’s in my blood to keep trying.” That persistence echoed in his alma mater’s motto is debuted daily in his willingness to wake up and fight on.

Todd Marinovich has been given many titles over the years. “Test-Tube Athlete”. “Trojan”. “Raider”. “Addict”. Through his recovery, redemption, and self-titled memoir, Marinovich is proving that there is much more to his story.

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