A struggling USC team had just started an effectively meaningless game in 1996 when quarterback Brad Otton overheard a sideline conversation between an athletic trainer and USC’s coach, John Robinson.
Otton had suffered bruises to his ribs and sternum a week earlier and needed a pregame shot of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory, to bear the pain in this, the season finale. Then, during the first drive, he took a helmet to the chest and needed to be helped off.
”He's done,” Robinson told the trainer, worried Otton might be seriously injured. “I don't want him back out there anymore.