Friday, February 5, 2010
From the cradle to the gridiron
The story of Todd Marinovich always made me a little sad. Marinovich was a kid whose father brought him up to be a quarterback. At a young age, he was told what to do, what to eat and how to train, and never experienced being a kid.
Marinovich went on to have a very successful career under center at USC and he signed a lucrative deal with the Raiders in the early 1990s. But he never made it in the NFL and later had substance abuse problems. After stints in the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League, he was out of professional football by 2001.
He had a big heroin problem and ran into several legal issues a few years back. So why do I bring this up?
Because newly appointed USC football coach Lane Kiffin on Friday offered a scholarship to 13-year-old quarterback David Sills of Delaware, and Sills gave a verbal commitment. On a side note, is there a more scummy person in the world than Lane Kiffin? Sills is coached personally by Steve Clarkson, who has mentored many a young quarterback, including current USC signal caller Matt Barkley. Clarkson refers to himself as the "Dream Maker."
"His skill set is off the chart," Clarkson said of Sills. "I've never seen anyone at his age do what he's been able to do. He's already six feet as a 13-year old, and he's breaking down NFL footage."
What about going to dances, or the mall or just hanging out with friends? Sills, who said USC has always been his dream school, would be a member of the recruiting class of 2015, which is five years away.
"Well, we're going to be out to California in a few weeks and we'll meet Lane then," Sills' father, David Sills IV, said. "We're excited to meet him. And we're excited to verbally commit. Hopefully it all works out in the future."
Hopefully, it doesn't work out like it did for Todd Marinovich.
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1 comment:
Everything about this story is so ridiculous, I'm not sure where to start.
Is anyone legitimately a good enough judge of talent to peg this 13-year-old kid as a future USC quarterback?
The kid is 5-11 and 140 pounds, but you never know what puberty will bring, so he could be done growing.
And since he's been thrust into the national spotlight, I might as well point out that his throwing motion is pretty ugly and will need some work from his stable of coaches.
Furthermore, does any 13-year-old really know what he wants to do in five years?
I disagree with Scott that Lane Kiffin is "scummy" but if he's serious about this kid, he might be an idiot. Then again, if he turns out to be the next Carson Palmer, Kiffin will look like a genius.
Unfortunately for Kiffin and Sills, that's almost certainly not going to happen.
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