Residents Call Cops on Former Trojan-NFL Player Found Naked in their Backyard

LAKE FOREST, CA—Troubled football player, Newport Beach native, Todd Marinovich was arrested in Irvine after being discovered naked and with marijuana in the backyard of an area home.

Former USC and Raiders quarterback Marinovich has a history of drug-related arrests.

Police were called about 9 p.m. Friday regarding a "naked person seen on a trail," Irvine police Cmdr. Mike Hallinan said.

Officers were sent to Venta Spur Trail to investigate and, while looking for the suspect, "heard noises from a backyard off of Bluecoat," Hallinan said.

The residents of the home also called police, saying they saw the nude suspect in their yard, Hallinan said. The 47-year-old Marinovich was cited and released after police booked him on suspicion of trespassing, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sans clothes and thus with "no pockets," Marinovich was carrying marijuana around in a "brown bag," the commander said.

Marinovich's legal woes owing to drugs date back to January 1991 when he was arrested while at USC. He entered into a drug-counseling program then and eventually had charges dropped.

Marinovich left USC after two years and was drafted in the first round by the then-Los Angeles Raiders in 1991. He ascended to starter by the end of his first season and started his next as top quarterback, only to get released before the 1993 season.

Marinovich has acknowledged in the past that his drug use contributed to the failure of his NFL career. He had subsequent stints with the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the British Columbia Lions in the 1990s.

The 1991 24th overall draft choice was raised and tutored by his father to make him the perfect quarterback. Marinovich reportedly started using drugs in high school to deal with the stress and continued throughout college and the pros. He failed three NFL drug tests while with the Raiders and was soon ejected from the NFL, never to return.

In 1997, he did three months in jail for cultivating marijuana in his home. He was arrested for heroin possession in 2001 and was on probation for that arrest when he was busted again in 2005.

Marinovich pleaded guilty in October 2007 to felony possession of a small amount of methamphetamine and misdemeanor syringe possession and resisting arrest.

Marinovich grew up on the Balboa Peninsula of Newport Beach and set local and national high school passing records while leading his team at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo.

City News Service Contributed to Report, Shutterstock Photo