Frustration Over for Marinovich, a Winning Quarterback

After losing his first four NFL starts, Todd Marinovich was eager to win one.

So, when the gun sounded ending the Raiders’ 13-10 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday, Marinovich could not control his emotions. He threw the football 15 rows deep to the Coliseum crowd.

The pass might have gone incomplete, but it didn’t matter to Marinovich because the stigma of being without a victory as a starting quarterback was lifted.

“It had gotten to be a little frustrating,” said Marinovich, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 216 yards and one touchdown. “It felt good to win a game for the fans and they responded great.”

Early in the first quarter, it did not look as if Marinovich would finish the game, yet alone win it, when he went to the sideline twice with injuries.

On the Raiders’ first possession, Marinovich cut his passing hand on a New York helmet on a third-down incomplete pass to Marcus Allen.

“I was lucky, because a quarterback’s worst nightmare is to hit his hand on someone’s helmet,” Marinovich said. “Normally, you hurt your hand worse than I did.”

Less than three minutes later, Marinovich was back on the field and fumbled his first snap from center and lost his wind when he recovered the ball.

Marinovich went to the bench and was replaced by Jay Schroeder. In two plays, Marinovich had suffered two different injuries, and his return into the game was questionable.

“They were roughing me up pretty good,” Marinovich said. “A couple of times they got in and got some good hits on me when I stepped up.

“Once, Lawrence Taylor came sliding in and got in a shot on my knees, and I looked down and just saw some teeth smiling at me. I just smiled back.”

However, Marinovich was determined to end his losing streak as he returned on the Raiders’ next possession in the second quarter.

Marinovich did not bring instant success to the Raiders--they were behind, 10-0, at halftime--but his return did represent the team’s attitude for the game.

“We just were not going to let anything get us down,” center Don Mosebar said. “We knew that we were only 10 points down and needed two scores. (Marinovich) kept his composure real good.”

The Raiders scored on their first possession of the second half when Marinovich completed three passes on a 46-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger.

The next time the Raiders got the ball, Marinovich hooked up with his favorite receiver, Tim Brown, on a 68-yard touchdown pass play to tie the score, 10-10.

“I had told Todd that the play was wide open on the series before,” said Brown, who had two catches for 80 yards. “But, on the (touchdown), I didn’t know he was going to throw it.”

It was a pass Marinovich did not see completed. All he saw before being smashed to the ground by a New York defender was Brown leaping for the ball behind the Giants’ Mark Collins, in front of the New York sideline. “I knew that when Tim’s close, he’ll come down with it or it would be incomplete,” Marinovich said. “He’s a great receiver who made a great play.”

Marinovich was not finished with Collins, the former Cal State Fullerton standout.

Early in the fourth quarter, on second down from the Raider 27, Marinovich lofted a deep sideline pass to Willie Gault behind Collins for a key 40-yard completion that led to Jaeger’s game-winning 54-yard field goal.

Marinovich put the finishing touch to his first NFL victory when he completed his final pass to Andrew Glover for a key first down with 1:31 to play.

“We just wanted to hold onto the ball and win the game at that point,” Marinovich said. “The offense came through when we needed it.”