Former football star arrested again

Former Los Angeles Raiders and USC quarterback Todd Marinovich was arrested outside his mother’s Balboa Island home Friday after he failed to appear in Orange County drug court earlier this week.

Marinovich was a one-time Heisman Trophy candidate during his days at USC. He was the Raiders first-round draft pick in 1991.

Marinovich, 39, was being held without bail at the Orange County men’s jail in Santa Ana, after Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him about 1 p.m. Friday, department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The former athlete was due in drug court Monday afternoon for a review of his progress in the program. A warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to show up for the hearing, Amormino said.

Marinovich was arrested in Newport Beach in August 2007 for felony possession of a controlled substance, unauthorized possession of a hypodermic needle and resisting a police officer, the latest in a string of drug-related arrests for the former athlete.

Marinovich was optimistic about his struggle with drug addiction after his arrest, he told the Daily Pilot in 2007.

“I’m good about not beating myself up for it,” Marinovich said. “I think it’s part of my make-up. It’s something that made me successful on the field. Always knowing that if I am breathing we have a chance to pull it out or I have a chance to turn it around.”

He pleaded guilty then and was sentenced to five years’ probation and one year of treatment at Spencer Recovery Centers in Laguna Beach.

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].