From a dorm room in Fluor Tower on W. 34th St. in Los Angeles, Todd Marinovich began to leave his secondary mark on Southern California. Always an artist, he used what little free time he had to pursue his most healthy getaway.

Using pencils and sticks of charcoal, Marinovich, then the star quarterback on the Trojans’ football team, etched murals onto the walls of the dormitory.

‘I went to his dorm room one time, and over his bed he had drawn on the wall with a No. 2 lead pencil. He had drawn an album cover picture of Bob Marley,’ said Mark Tucker, a former USC offensive lineman and teammate of Marinovich. ‘I’ll never forget that. I was dumbfounded.

‘I asked him, I said, ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ And he said, ‘I drew this.”

The artwork spread from Marinovich’s dorm room to the rooms and apartments of his friends on campus. The Bob Marley drawing was joined by an eight-foot self-portrait of Marinovich playing quarterback. And a life-size image of a fallen angel, inspired by the Led Zeppelin song titled ‘Swan Song,’ might still be on the wall of an apartment in downtown Los Angeles.

‘They charged me the deposit on the apartment when I moved out to paint the walls,’ Todd said. ‘And I got word years later that it was still there because everyone that moved in said, ‘Don’t paint it.’ I don’t know if it’s still there, probably not, it’s been too long.’

He even had a key to the art building on campus and would spend hours each night after practice painting, said SU defensive end and Marinovich’s half brother, Mikhail Marinovich.

But 20 years have passed since Marinovich left Southern California after his sophomore season with the Trojans. He arrived at USC as one of the most highly touted prospects of all time. The ‘No. 1 prospect before they even had No. 1 prospects,’ SU linebackers coach Dan Conley said.

Bred to be a quarterback from nearly the moment he left the womb, Marinovich was groomed to be a star by his father. He never ate fast food or soda, worked out for hours each day and was dubbed ‘Robo QB’ by the media.

Two standout seasons at USC prompted the Los Angeles Raiders to take him with 24th pick of the 1991 NFL Draft.

But he failed multiple drug tests, with the third ultimately ending his career in the league.

His life went into a vicious tailspin that resulted in nine arrests, five felonies and jail time — mostly due to drugs.

‘People go through phases,’ said Ricky Ervins, a former USC running back and teammate of Marinovich. ‘People always get mixed in the wrong things, and you just have to be strong enough to find your way out of it.’

For Marinovich, art is what’s helped him find his way out. At age 42 and two decades removed from his Rose Bowl-winning stardom at Southern California, he is making it as a professional artist. The Todd Marinovich Art Gallery showcases some of his pieces, many of which contain USC-related colors and themes.

He’s also made a return to football. He works with kids ages 10 and up, teaching them fundamentals of the game and the quarterback position.

His troubled, turbulent past leaves Marinovich seeking balance at this point in his life — a proper ratio of ‘work, family and fun.’

‘His lifestyle has been in a downward spiral for a long time,’ Tucker said. ‘And I think finally now he’s pulling out of it and getting it together a little bit.’

Saturday, Mikhail and Syracuse travel to one of the places Marinovich came from, when the Orange takes on the Trojans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. For the first time, Mikhail has the chance to play on the same field his half-brother and father both called home during their careers for USC.

As a redshirt freshman in 1989, Marinovich threw for 2,578 yards and 16 touchdowns. He led the team to a 17-10 win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl, snapping a two-year losing streak in the game recruits say draws them to Southern California.

‘Just winning that Rose Bowl man, finally,’ Tucker said. ‘We had gone two years without winning it. … That was huge, man. It was just getting a monkey off our back.’

To get to that point, Marinovich had already emerged as a leader despite his youth. To this day, the drive he orchestrated in a come-from-behind victory at Washington State is still known as ‘The Drive’ to USC fans.

He guided the USC offense 91 yards on 18 plays in the final 3:31 and found Ervins in the end zone with four seconds left. All 18 plays were passes, and he sealed the win with a successful two-point conversion on a pass to Gary Wellman.

‘The look in his eyes when he was in the huddle, of how he was calling the plays, you knew we were going to win the game,’ Ervins said. ‘There was no doubt in your mind. … I would go to war with him any time.’

‘There was nothing quite like that,’ Marinovich added.

That set the stage for a hype-filled sophomore season. And again, Marinovich dazzled. He left school after that sophomore year for the NFL Draft.

But then the dark years of drug use, arrests and a lackluster football career set in. The first 20 years of his life were dedicated to football. The next 20 to legal problems.

Now, as he enters the next part of his life, he seems to have pulled through. The dedication to art provides him with a release that doesn’t harm his body, and his football mentorship of young quarterbacks gives him the chance to educate and develop the next generation of athletes in Southern California.

‘That’s why I think Todd had to go through that type of stuff,’ Ervins said. ‘Now he can share his story with everyone else who is struggling along the way as well. He had went through hell. And now he is going to come out of the fire.’

Within the past few years, he’s returned to the sidelines of the Coliseum for USC home games. He attends three or four games a year, and he will be there Saturday in support of his half brother, Mikhail.

Marinovich will be joined by his wife, son, mother and his and Mikhail’s father, Marv, at the game. Mikhail’s mother will also be in attendance. He said the family has been looking forward to this game for two years, when it was announced.

As has Mikhail.

‘It’s awesome (to go back),’ Mikhail said. ‘A place that my dad and brother have put it all out on the field, have bled and sweat on that field. I have a real family legacy there.’

Though the half brothers are 19 years apart in age, they share a bond that extends beyond football. Marinovich said the time they spend together has little to do with the game both brothers excel at. It’s more about enjoying each other’s company.

When Mikhail got married a little more than a year ago, Marinovich gave him and his wife a large mural as a wedding present.

But the gift likely went beyond its physical value as an artistic piece of work. It represents Marinovich’s positive transformation in the past few years from the dark depths of prison time to his successful return to society.

He’s at peace with his progress.

‘Really staying on track and building on what I did yesterday,’ Marinovich said. ‘And if I do that, wherever life takes me I’m fine with that. With the way my life, the direction it’s going now, I couldn’t be more pleased and grateful for where I’ve come from.

‘I’m getting closer to a healthy balance.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on September 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13