Lawrence Phillips’ potential involvement in the death of his prison cellmate has given us reason to dig up information about his past that we since have forgotten. I mean I knew that Phillips was a bad guy who constantly got in trouble, but I forgot just how bad things were, mostly because all of this happened 10-20 years ago.
For starters, when he was in college, Phillips was accused of barging into an apartment, knocking down his girlfriend, and dragging her down three flights of stairs. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing and assault charges, which seem like nothing compared to the type of domestic violence he committed. He also was reinstated to the football team by Tom Osborne rather than kicked off the squad.
When the St. Louis Rams drafted him sixth overall in 1996, they did so knowing about his criminal past. They even signed him to a deal without a signing bonus because of his problems.
From a 1996 Sports Illustrated article by S.L. Price on Phillips:
The three-year, $5.625 million contract Phillips signed includes some $2 million in guarantees should he get through this season without further incident, but it is largely a pay-for-play deal: If Phillips isn’t on the team, he doesn’t get paid. Phillips also signed a unique, self-policing “social agreement,” which stipulates that he must adhere to an 11 p.m. curfew, a limit of two alcoholic beverages a day, punctual attendance at all
practices and meetings and a promise to leave any party that threatens to get out of control.
Phillips’ ex-girlfriend also sued him in civil court during his rookie season in ’96. She alleged that he beat her, sexually assaulted her, and threatened to shoot her if she dated someone else.
The same week, it became public knowledge that McEwen had filed a civil suit in circuit court in Kansas City, Mo., alleging a pattern of abuse by Phillips that included beatings, sexual assault and this threat from Phillips if she dated anybody else: “I’m going to shoot you in the kneecaps and then shoot you in the elbows. This is Los Angeles gang-style of dealing with people.”
The article also contains this chilling premonition:
No one–not the Rams, not Brooks and certainly not Phillips–can be sure that some night he won’t be found slumped over a steering wheel or venting his indecipherable anger on someone’s skull.
Phillips is currently serving a 31-year prison sentence in Delano, Calif., for trying to run over three teens with his car and for assaulting a different girlfriend. He is being investigated for the murder of his cellmate.
