Can Parents Push Junior Too Hard? : Warning to elders: the troubling case of super-success Todd Marinovich

Success at an early age can come at a price. For a brilliant young football star who in his freshman year directed his team to victory in the Rose Bowl, the tumble from the pedestal has been especially hard and public.

USC quarterback Todd Marinovich will have his day in Newport Beach Municipal Court next month to answer a cocaine possession charge, the latest in a series of baffling episodes that have marred a star-crossed sophomore year. But clearly, Marinovich’s inability to get control of life on and off campus this year is evident. The series of suspensions, benchings and harsh words exchanged with coaches on the sidelines can’t be ignored, any more than missed blocking assignments would be overlooked in a review of a season’s game films.

Many fans had hoped that at last a storybook life of glory on the gridiron was back on track. Yet something clearly has come unglued when a young man groomed for stardom by a competitive father--who began preparing his son for an athletic career while he was but a toddler--could not carry out a game plan for life through his second year in college.

Tempting as it may be to dismiss this year as the proverbial “sophomore jinx,” the fact is that, short of taking his team again to the Rose Bowl, Marinovich’s exploits on the gridiron generally were consistent with the standard of excellence he set for himself in Orange County as one of the nation’s top high school players. But the evidence suggests that while Marinovich the football player retained his magic on the field, Marinovich the young man and student lost his grip somewhere in the procession of celebrated Saturdays. The sad wonder is that USC authorities didn’t get a better handle themselves on this situation.

Although Marinovich is a few years older than most of his classmates, it cannot be forgotten that this is still a young man coping with big-time pressure and big-time celebrity. And the success that college football bestows may not be as anticipated. Marinovich has worn name and fame not like a garland, but as if they had become a troublesome burden. Suspended this month for missing a mandatory team meeting and not registering for classes, he obviously needs to put his play book aside until he gets his life in order.

There may be a lesson here for all parents. Push Junior too hard to excel at Pop Warner football or music lessons, and we may create a star or diva or science prodigy without necessarily drawing out a complete, well-rounded human being.