Marinovich

Outside the Lines in Football, Art, and Addiction

By: Todd Marinovich, Lizzy Wright - contributor

Narrated by: Braden Wright

One of the most misunderstood professional athletes of his generation, America’s “Robo Quarterback” finally sets the record straight, exposing his childhood trauma, battle with addiction, and path toward self-acceptance with brutal honesty and profound humility.

For years, the national media has been left unchecked for its careless, incomplete, and often inaccurate portrayal of Todd Marinovich’s meteoric rise to fame, cataclysmic collapse, and unsteady path to self-realization.

Now, for the first time, Todd tells his story in his own words, and nothing is off limits.

Marinovich dives into the making of America’s first “test-tube athlete,” detailing Todd’s upbringing under his father’s unconventional care and his early entry into elite athletics along with its relentless spotlight. Readers will examine the inner workings of the mythical “Robo Quarterback,” but they will also meet an artist and free spirit who just happened to be one of the nation’s best football players. Todd holds nothing back as he tells of his jaw-dropping exploits both on and off the football field, sharing how the merciless grip of addiction unraveled his life even as his success in football reached dream-worthy heights.

As the profit machine of youth sports reaches a crescendo and a mental health epidemic rages, Todd’s inspiring path to healing and purpose offers desperately needed hope. Marinovich is more than a soul-baring account of one man’s life: it is a call to embrace one’s truth, to defy external pressures, and to cultivate the resilience necessary to recover from inevitable setbacks. Ultimately, Todd’s shocking life experience is hard-won proof that the most powerful force within each of us is love.

©2025 by Todd Marinovich with Lizzy Wright. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

History Lesso

Todd was/is an anomaly in our day, but not to an extreme level of every day addiction. I wish him well!

…and I thought I knew Todd Marinovich!

While I definitely remember the splash Todd and Marv made in SoCal and the sports world in the late 80’s and early 90’s, I quickly judged them both and shook my head at each embarrassing step the Red Rocket made.

Braden Wright narrates this moving autobiographic tale that should be required reading / listening for anyone in the sports world or public eye. Todd would be the first to tell you that football, Marv, Trojans or Raiders did not make him an alcoholic and a drug addict. But he does offer a perspective on each and how their collective pressures might have exacerbated his genetic predispositions.

I found my heart breaking as I listened to this moving story. I do hope to meet Todd one day. And you can better believe it will be his ART that we both talk about!

Blake Boyd
Los Angeles, California

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Absolutely brilliant

Unlike most autobiographies, then paint with a brush, not based in reality. This is raw, realistic and incredibly truthful.

A highly moving and raw account that goes well beyond just another sports biography.

This is a book about far more than football. it's a book about humanity and one man's struggle to overcome addiction. This story gets real, and is one you will be grateful to the author for finding the courage to share. Highly recommend.

Honesty

The steady stream of compelling stories kept my interest throughout the book. It was heart wrenching and liberating for a young man and for many young men and women in our world today.