Former player wasting potential

So much potential wasted.

Those four words sum up the career, and even life, of Todd Marinovich to a tee.

Marinovich, for those unaware, is the former high school, college and NFL football quarterback who went from the prototypical ball player to the ever-so-typical drug addict, seemingly overnight.

As a young ball player, Marinovich seemed to have all the tools.

His father, Marv, famously coached and trained his son from birth to be a football star. And that he did become.

Marinovich lit up the playing fields of Capo Valley High and later USC, torching opponents for passing touchdowns.

At USC, though, the early rumors of Marinovich and his darker side surfaced. Rumors were he was involved in drug use and he got in spats with his coach, Larry Smith.

In fact, it was while he was at USC in 1991 that Marinovich was picked up in Newport Beach for drug-related offenses.

He left college early and was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Raiders, the same NFL team his father played for.

But he only played there two years before, again, the rumors of drug use surfaced and he was released.

Since then, he drifted in and out sports in the Canadian Football and Arena Football leagues and in and out of jail on multiple arrests, again mostly involving drugs.

Now there is one more.

Just last week, the former football wunderkind was arrested by police in Newport Beach on suspicion of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, including a hypodermic needle.

Marinovich told our reporter in a jailhouse interview Friday that his latest brush with the law was just a “bump in the road.” And he vowed to get back on track.

“It’s just like throwing an interception,” he said. “The best people are going to throw interceptions. It’s about dealing with the next possession, the next breath.”

We hope he is right. We hope Marinovich can make that next breath a deep one and while he’s at it, think about potential the rest of his life has.

And don’t let that be wasted, both figuratively and literally.