Lawrence Phillips

Lawrence Lamond Phillips (May 12, 1975 – January 13, 2016) was an American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons.

A highly touted collegiate prospect, Phillips' professional career was cut short by legal troubles that continued up until his death.

In 1993, his freshman year at University of Nebraska, Phillips gradually worked his way up the player ranks.

He came off the bench to rush for 137 yards and a touchdown in the Cornhuskers' 14–13 win against Pac-10 champion UCLA.

In the second half of the 1994 Orange Bowl, he sparked the Husker ground game, carrying 13 times for 64 of the 183 rushing yards against a formidable Seminole defense.

All but one of Phillips' carries came in the fourth quarter, during which he scored on a 12-yard touchdown run.

This game established him as the primary running back in the Cornhuskers’ offense.

By his sophomore year, Phillips became the focal point of the offense because of injuries to quarterbacks Tommie Frazier and Brook Berringer.

He tied a school record by rushing for 100 yards or more in 11 straight games in 1994 despite frequently playing against eight or nine-man defensive fronts.

Against the #3 Miami Hurricanes, Phillips had 96 yards on 19 carries, including a 25-yard run that was the longest rushing play the Hurricanes had allowed all season.

During the regular season, he ran for 1,722 yards, still a Nebraska record for a sophomore.

Phillips' performance in the Orange Bowl that year was key to Nebraska securing its undefeated season and the national championship in 1994.

Less than two weeks after Phillips helped Nebraska win the 1994 championship, he pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, vandalism, and disturbing the peace.

The charges came from a March 1994 incident, in which Phillips was accused of grabbing a 21-year-old college student "around the neck".

Phillips entered a pretrial diversion program earlier, but was charged on November 18, 1994, after failing to complete the requirements of the program.

Shortly before the start of the next season, Phillips' eligibility was in question for receiving a $100 lunch from a sports agent during the 1994 season.

When Nebraska officials became aware of the violation, he allegedly reimbursed the agent.

The NCAA ruled him eligible just in time for the season opener, but continued to investigate other unspecified issues involving Phillips.

Phillips won the 1995 Orange Bowl and the 1996 Fiesta Bowl playing college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, which led to him being selected sixth overall in the 1996 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams.

When the 1995 season finally arrived, Phillips became an early front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

In Nebraska's second game of the season, against Michigan State—playing its first game under new coach Nick Saban—Phillips had 206 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries.

After only two games, he was averaging more than 11 yards per carry and had scored six touchdowns.

Hours after the team returned from East Lansing on September 10, 1995, Phillips broke into backup quarterback Scott Frost's apartment by climbing the outside of the building to the third floor and entering through some sliding doors.

He then assaulted his ex-girlfriend, basketball player Kate McEwen.

Phillips dragged McEwen out of the apartment by the hair and down three flights of stairs before smashing her head into a mailbox.

Phillips was subsequently arrested, and eventually suspended by head coach Tom Osborne.

The case became a source of controversy and media attention, with the perception that Osborne was coddling a star player by not kicking Phillips off the team permanently.

Osborne walked out on a press conference when asked, "If one of your players had roughed up a member of your family and had dragged her down a flight of steps, would you have reinstated that player to the team?"

Outraged Nebraska faculty proposed that any student convicted of a violent crime should be prohibited from representing the university on the football field.

Osborne defended the decision, saying that abandoning Phillips might do more harm than good, stating the best way to help Phillips was within the structured environment of the football program.

However, his frequent legal problems and inconsistent performances resulted in the Rams releasing him near the end of the 1997 season.

After playing only two games for the Miami Dolphins, Phillips pursued a comeback with the San Francisco 49ers in 1999, but was released due to questions over his work ethic.

He last played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for two seasons with the Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders.

With the Alouettes in 2002, Phillips was named an All-Star and won the Grey Cup before further legal problems and work ethic concerns ended his career the next season.

Remaining in trouble with the law, Phillips was serving a 31-year sentence on assault convictions when he was charged in 2015 with murdering his cellmate.

A coroner’s report ruled he hung himself in solitary confinement while awaiting trial.

Phillips was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and later moved to California, where he grew up in foster homes.

He attended West Covina High School in West Covina, California for his freshman and sophomore years.

He was a varsity starter both on offense as a running back and defense as an outside linebacker.

He then attended Baldwin Park High School in Baldwin Park, California for his junior and senior years, and his team won a CIF championship his junior season, which attracted the attention of colleges, including the University of Nebraska.