Marinovich Project: Buzz Surrounding "Robo QB" Became Too Much

Todd Marinovich found out firsthand that no human being can be a robot.

As mechanical and precise as Marinovich was on the football field as a star high school athlete and Heisman candidate at USC, the overwhelming media pressure ultimately became too much for one individual to handle.

Marinovich, spotlighted in ESPN's Marinovich Project, slated to air at 9:00 p.m. ET Saturday night, was raised as a child by his father, Marv, to be a machine, in the weight room and out of the pocket.

His extensive training made him one of the top prospects in the nation, but his rise was ultimately followed by a downward spiral into drug addiction.

Marinovich was a well-known party-goer, staying out late with celebrities, taking heavy doses of cocaine in Charlie Sheen's basement and popping pills before warm-ups.

His lifestyle earned him a couple benchings and a suspension from then-head coach Larry Smith, and he was done at USC after two years.

But even after getting arrested for the first time for cocaine possession before the 1991 NFL draft, Marinovich was still selected No. 24 overall by his hometown Los Angeles Raiders, ahead of one Brett Favre.

But making the pros didn't exactly help matters for Marinovich. He had more money and more distractions (hence hanging out in Sheen's basement) and he tested positive for drugs twice before being suspended and ultimately kicked out of the NFL.

All of this appeared to have a lot to do with the expectations thrown at Marinovich out of high school and USC. It was his release from the everyday pressures of having to be a future Hall of Famer to live up to the hype. It's the same kind of pressure that has downed several significant athletes since.

Above all, Marinovich's story is a cautionary tale about expecting a human being to be "Robo QB" when, in fact, he's a human being, just like everyone else.

So often athletes are expected to be perfect, on the field and off it, and that's simply not possible.

In the end, trying to be perfect can send someone plummeting down the wrong path, when if they were just themselves, they would do just fine.

Perhaps what Marinovich Project tries to tell us is that just because an athlete can throw far or hit hard or run fast, that doesn't mean he doesn't feel the same pressures as the rest of us.