When the National Football League first decided to draft college players in 1936, there was always the possibility that a player would not meet the expectations that the team had set for the recruit. These players who do not live up to their potential are now commonly known as draft busts. The biggest draft failures tend to occur in the first two rounds of the nine-round draft because the bar is set much higher for these top picks than for the late ones. These players often sign big contracts and don't succeed as players, get cut from the team, or don't get much time on the field. This hurts the team financially and economically, when you think about opportunity costs. Afterwards, players still have the money and often get into trouble with the law for drug-related crimes or other illegal activities. However, not all drafts break the law; some have other career paths as football analysts, or move away from football entirely and find other jobs outside of the sport. When the Raiders were in Los Angeles in the 1990s, the organization selected Todd Marinovich with the 24th overall pick in the draft. Marinovich signed a three-year, $2.25 million contract, which by today's standards is low, but in 1991, the average NFL player made $422,149, an all-time high at the time. (Baltimore Sun) Before Marinovich was drafted, he spent his two-season college career at the University of Southern California as a Trojan. He redshirted the season in 1988 and would be a walk-on for the 1989 season after disappointing in spring training. Marinovich had a stroke of luck in his career when top-line quarterback Pat O'Hara suffered an injury and had to be sidelined. Marinovich became the first to leave...... middle of paper......NS-CONTRACT-REPORTS-TO-RAIDERS-CAMP.html?pg=all>.Martinez, Jose. “The 25 Worst NFL Contracts of All Time.” Complex.com. Np, Sept. 4, 2013. Web. May 24, 2014. “NFL.com Draft 1991 – NFL Draft History: Complete Draft Year.” NFL.com. NFL and Web. May 24, 2014. "NFL.com 2007 Draft - NFL Draft History: Complete Draft Year." NFL.com. NFL and Web. May 24, 2014. "Players." JaMarcus Russell: Game logs on NFL.com. NFL and Web. May 24, 2014. "Players." Todd Marinovich: Game logs on NFL.com. Np, nd Web. May 20 2014. .