HOW OLD IS TOO OLD? MARINOVICH JOINS HALLOWED HALL OF VINATIERI, JAGR, CARTER AND COLON

(INDIO) – The SoCal Coyotes signing this week of pro football comeback quarterback Todd Marinovich at age 48 begs the unavoidable question: How old is too old, to play pro sports?

Currently, the oldest player in the NFL is Indianapolis Colts’ venerable kicker Adam Vinatieri, 44. In the NBA, it’s Vince Carter, 40, of the Memphis Grizzlies. In the NHL, it’s bruising right-winger Jaromir Jagr, 45, who last played for the Florida Panthers. In Major League Baseball, it’s the hard-throwing Bartolo Colon, 43, of the Atlanta Braves.

Marinovich last played in 2001, before drug and legal problems cut short a promising career.

Can he revive the magic that won a Rose Bowl for USC, made him a  first-round pick of the Los Angeles Raiders, and once exploded for 10 touchdowns in a single game for the AFL’s Los Angeles Avengers?

For some, the heart never ages.

Who can forget the late MLB legend Satchel Paige? He threw his last professional pitch on June 21, 1966, for the Peninsula Grays of the Carolina League.

Paige was 59.

DISCOVER how The Pro Football Educator, operated by former Denver Broncos GM and two-time Super Bowl winner Ted Sundquist, selected the perennial champion SoCal Coyotes as America’s #1 Developmental Pro Football Program™.  The Coyotes have worked painstakingly to produce a scalable model whose entire integrated platform – community, officials, front-office, personnel, players — addresses essential long-term sustainability of the NFL product. Visit www.thesocalcoyotes.com.

FAITH, FAMILY, FOOTBALL is the real mission of the Coyotes – and not surprisingly, something that dates back to the great Vince Lombardi in 1959. More than game tape. More than a weight room. More than a 40 time. The Coyote mission of ‘Building Champions, Building Men™’ reaches far beyond the actual gridiron, deep into the development of young athletes as fathers, husbands, and men.

SEVENTY PLAYERS EACH YEAR earn the distinction to ‘Defend the Shield™’ in the uniform of the SoCal Coyotes. Many will earn a shot with NFL, CFL or AFL opportunities, or graduate into business careers.

-SVP Ron DiGrandi ([email protected])