Todd Marinovich, a former NFL quarterback for the Raiders, was arrested Friday after being found naked in a stranger's backyard.
Marinovich, 47, reportedly was found with marijuana and possibly methamphetamine in a brown bag when he was found in a backyard in Southern California, The Associated Press reported.
Irvine Police discovered Marinovich, once dubbed "Robo quarterback," while investigating a call about a nude man wandering a nearby hiking trail, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was booked on suspicion of trespassing; possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of marijuana.
“It is a tragic story. We found him hiding in a backyard. Someone else’s backyard. We responded to a caller stating there was a naked person on Venta Spur Trail,” Irvine police Commander Mike Hallinan told the Times.
Marinovich played quarterback for Mater Dei and later Capistrano Valley High in the 1980s and later for USC, where he was the first freshman quarterback to start the first game of the season for USC since World War II, The Orange County Register reported.
A first-round draft pick in 1991, Marinovich left the NFL after two seasons and has had repeated run-ins with the law over drugs.
In 1997, he pleaded guilty to felony charges of cultivating marijuana and a misdemeanor charge of illegally possessing prescription medicine, the Register reported. In 2000, he joined the arena football league but was cut eight months later after being arrested on suspicion of heroin possession.
The married father of two recently has also worked as an artist.
The arrest sparked attention on Twitter.
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