Tebow, Todd, Drugs and Faith

As part of ESPN's quest for original programming dominance, they selected a topic every football fan enjoys, quarterbacks, as a theme for a series of documentaries in 2011.   I happened to catch two of these documentaries this week, the first called "The Marinovich Project" about former USC quarterback Todd Marinovich's difficult childhood with an overbearing father and his subsequent struggles with addiction, and the second called "Everything in Between" about Tim Tebow's quest to transition from college to NFL caliber quarterback.  Both documentaries were well done and while Marinovich's documentary left me contemplating a life and career gone awry, the contrast to Tebow somehow brought some things to light for me about Marinovich.  It was as if the causes behind Marinovich's tragic young life came in to sharp relief while watching Tebow effortlessly live his life to its fullest potential and I began to realize that it took virtually opposing parenting styles to create one young man so eager to embrace his life and one so eager to escape it. 

I barely remember Todd Marinovich as a player. I was too young to be interested in his two years at USC (before he quit the team because he couldn't get along with the coach), and as a 7th grader in New York I was disconnected from his struggles as quarterback for the Raiders.  Despite that, Marinovich's story affected me deeply and I was left feeling a lot of empathy for a gifted quarterback who had all the tools necessary to be an NFL star, but little desire to do so and a drug addiction that eventually ruined his life.  Now 42, his pro career over for more than 10 years, the filmmakers let Marinovich recount his life story from the place he probably feels most safe in the world -- sitting barefoot in board shorts on the sandy beaches of Southern California.  After nearly 20 years as a drug addict, he is two years sober, has a young child, a burgeoning art career and finally seems at peace with his life.  

I had just finished contemplating Marinovich's new found peace when I came across the documentary on the man of the hour, Mr. Tim Tebow.  The documentary deals with the months between Tebow wrapping up his celebrated career at Florida and entering the NFL draft.  The documentary is largely about Tebow's quest to correct his much maligned throwing motion in the winter of 2010.  Improving a throwing motion is a dry topic for a documentary, but what makes the story come to life is Tebow. His work ethic, attitude and belief in himself could inspire the most cynical soul to get up and do something good.  Besides the throwing motion, what's the number one thing people talk about when they talk about Tim Tebow?  His faith.  The Tebow prayer kneel has virtually become a cultural icon and a lighting rod of controversy for those who say religion doesn't have a place in sports.   He been slammed and parodied in the media and there was even an SNL skit this past Saturday where Jesus comes out and tells Tebow to tone it down a notch.  But what nobody can argue is that through his faith Tebow has found a blissfulness that lifts everyone around him.  He wears his faith on his sleeve and while his expression of that faith seems to drive a lot of people nuts, Tebow's simultaneous humility and belief that he can accomplish anything allows him to inspire himself and his teammates to do just that. 

Todd Marinovich, on the other hand, felt that after beating the New York Giants at the Coliseum in one of his first starts as a Raider he had accomplised everything he wanted to as a quarterback and he knew "it was over."  He was a 23 year old man with the tools and body for a long, successful career and yet he wanted none of it.  He said that he knew there must be more to life than football and he wanted to go out there and find out what it was.  Listening to Marinovich say his career was over after his first big NFL win I was reminded of the following Einstein quote: "There are two ways to look at life. One is as though nothing is a miracle; the other is as though everything is."  I believe that Todd Marinovich is a man who at 23 believed the former and Tim Tebow is a man who believes the latter and that difference is just about all you need to know when asking yourself why one is a winner who inspires his teammates and one used LSD in college in order to pass the weekly drug tests. 

The inevitable question after reaching this conclusion is why did they turn out so differently? Why in his early 20's does one have faith, clarity and peace and the other had only emptiness, confusion and anger.  While Marinovich says in the documentary that he doesn't blame his intense and overbearing father for how he turned out and says that now he realizes his dad did what he did "out of love," I believe the way Todd was parented has everything to do with the path he chose.  Todd's parents divorced when he was in high school, and his mother seemed to be in denial about Todd's childhood.  She sounded like a victim when describing how Todd's father groomed him from the cradle to be a quarterback as if there is nothing she could have done or said to intervene.  Todd's father learned the workout programs of Soviet Olympians and implemented them on his son from a very young age while putting him on a food regimen that would leave Jillian Michaels craving indulgence.  Marinovich's life became about serving his father's need for him to be an NFL quarterback and he says in the documentary that he felt a pressure to keep the family together.  He said that if he played well things in the house would be OK, and if he didn't there would be turmoil.  No child should be subjected to the pressure of holding a family together or serving his parents needs.  And I believe any child who is would turn to drugs to fill the void left from lack of love and empathy and would eventually attempt to escape the life that his parents had created for him while thinking "there must be more to life than this."  I believe when Marinovich won that game against the Giants the little boy in him said,  "See Dad, I am a winning NFL quarterback, can I go home now?"

The Tebow documentary ends with Tim crowded into a living room with his huge family waiting for Roger Goodell to announce his name at the NFL draft.  While I know nothing about Tebow's parents I got a sense from this scene that he is very close with them and that his childhood was the polar opposite of Marinovich's.  If Tebow's dad was anything like Marinovich's dad you can bet he would have corrected that looping throwing motion in 5th or 6th grade.  But thank God he didn't because we would have missed out on the Tebow kneel, his infectious personality, the Saturday Night Live parodies and the miraculous season he's putting together with the rest of the Denver Broncos. Despite all he's done there are still plenty of naysayers out there convinced that Tebow's bad throwing motion will prevent him from having a successful NFL career.  While I agree that his throw still needs work, I also believe when you combine the kind of faith Tebow has in himself and those around him with his pure athleticism miracles can and do happen.  And miracles are what we watch sports for in the first place.