Freak Knee Injury Sidelines Marinovich : Football: Former USC, Raider quarterback suffers major ligament damage on first day of CFL camp.

Todd Marinovich’s turbulent football career received another setback Friday when the former USC and Raider quarterback suffered a serious injury to his left knee on the opening day of training camp with his new team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

“I’m devastated,” said Marinovich, who had never suffered a serious injury before Friday. “You never think it’s going to happen to you.”

Marinovich, hoping to get a fresh start with the CFL team after being waived by the Raiders last summer, damaged his left anterior cruciate ligament when his leg crumpled after his cleats stuck on a well-groomed grass field during a drop-back passing drill at Brandon, Canada.

The injury could seriously affect Marinovich’s career because he’s left-handed and must plant the knee for stability while throwing.

“He was in immense pain,” said sportswriter Dave Supleve of the Winnipeg Free Press, who saw the accident.

“It was half tragic and half ironic. It was freakish. They had just opened full training camp this morning and on the very first play, it’s not even a play, it’s just a drill where they drop back and turn their shoulders, he blew out his knee.

“It was like Stephen King wrote it. They had done their stretch, and the first drill for the quarterbacks was the five step drop where you drop three steps, turn your shoulders and drop back two more. I almost had to act it out in my hotel room to do it. And as he turned his shoulders, his left leg got stuck in the turf.”

Winnipeg quarterback coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kelly initially had trouble grasping the severity of Marinovich’s injury.

“It was freakish,” Kelly said. “At first I said, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ and then I looked at his eyes and I knew he wasn’t. It’s just one of those bizarre things that happens. The quarterbacks tiptoed around all day after that.”

Marinovich could be out for up to a year if his injury requires full reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation. Blue Bomber team physician A.E. Longstaffe, who examined him Friday in Winnipeg, is scheduled to perform arthroscopic surgery Monday to determine the full extent of the injury.

Marinovich said he isn’t sure whether he’ll undergo his rehabilitation in Canada or in the Southland under the direction of his father, Marv.

Although his college and pro careers have been plagued by obstacles, Marinovich, who signed a two-year contract with Winnipeg last month, hopes to overcome his latest challenge.

“Everything was going well,” he said. “I couldn’t have been happier. But like I said, you never know when something like this is going to happen. All I can do is work with the doctors and rehab.”

Although Marinovich hadn’t played organized football since being cut from the Raiders last August, Kelly said he performed well in workouts before camp opened.

“He really looked good in rookie camp,” Kelly said. “He was really starting to come into his own after the layoff.”