Wednesday, April 15
If you think Ray Rice and Greg Hardy are bad dudes wait until you read about Lawrence Phillips, a star running back at Nebraska during the mid 1990's and the sixth overall draft pick in the 1996 draft.
Phillips is doing hard prison time, but he recently slipped back into the news: He's a suspect in the death of his cellmate at Kern Valley State (Calif.) Prison.
Phillips makes Rice and Hardy look like husband/boy friend of the year candidates in comparison to his violence toward women, which includes numerous incidents and arrests for battery and domestic violence such as dragging a girl friend down a flight of stairs - by her hair.
The NFL was far more permissive back then. Talent meant far more than character in those days. Phillips had chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity first with the Rams and their coach, **** Vermeil, - the Alan Alda of coaches. The Rams finally let him go after a THIRD arrest with Vermeil in tears.
Phillips then flunked trials with the Dolphins and 49ers after more arrests. He tried the CFL, but was charged with sexual assault during that period, too.
He finally drew a well-deserved 31-year jail term for driving a stolen car onto a field and running over three teenagers following an argument during a pickup football game.
And now this. Hope Tom Osborne, Phillips' college coach at Nebraska, is happy since he enabled him. Osborne should have kicked Phillips off the team, or at least prevented him from playing until he could control himself. But he didn't.
Phillips could have won the Heisman Trophy, but with his track record he probably wouldn't even get drafted in the NFL nowadays. That's a good thing.
On the handicapping front, I'm taking the plunge putting my Triple Star Regular Season NBA Game of the Year to headline my Wednesday card today. My record is 26-13-1 (67 percent) on my last 40 Triple Stars. I'm 58-37-4 (60 percent) lifetime on my NBA Triple Stars. My plays can be found here: /pregamepros/pro-bettor/bettor.aspx?id=7746#capper.