Phillips’ cellmate at Kern Valley State Prison in central California was Damion Soward. He was serving an 82 year to life sentence for a first-degree murder conviction. Damion was found lifeless in his cell and later pronounced dead.
Lawrence was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 12, 1975. He moved to California where he grew up in foster homes. As a junior and senior running back at Baldwin Park High School they went back-to-back CIF championships which attracted the attention of the University of Nebraska.
In 1994, his sophomore year Phillips tied a school record by rushing for 100 yards or more in 11 straight games for a total of 1,722 yards. That still stands as a record at Nebraska for any sophomore running back.
Shortly after Phillips helped Nebraska secure the 1994 National Championship, he pled not guilty to charges of assault and vandalism from an incident on March of 1994. Though he was charged in November and he failed to complete the requirements of the pretrial division program, Phillips was allowed to play in the game against Oklahoma and the Orange Bowl game to win the National Championship.
Phillips was arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend after choking and dragging her down a flight of steps. He was subsequently suspended by Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne. Phillips was allowed to play in the Fiesta Bowl where he rushed for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns.
With that performance Phillips was drafted sixth overall in the 1996 draft by the St. Louis Rams despite his character problems. He signed a three-year $5.625 million contract. Phillips only played 15 games for the Rams and was released for his inconsistent performance and his inability to stay out of trouble.
His next team was the Miami Dolphins where he only played 2 games. The dolphins released him after he pleaded no contest to assaulting a woman in a Florida nightclub. Phillips then played in the NFL Europe league for the Barcelona Dragons before coming back stateside and signing with the San Francisco 49ers. Within one year Phillips was first given a three-day suspension and eventually cut for conduct detrimental to the team.
After his football career was over on August 21,2005 Phillips was arrested for assault after driving a car into three teenagers following a dispute during a pick-up football game in Los Angeles. At the time of his arrest, Phillips had warrants from the San Diego police in connection with two alleged domestic abuse incidents involving a former girlfriend. She claimed that Phillips had choked her to the point of unconsciousness.
In October of 2006 he was found guilty of seven counts stemming from the car incident and was sentenced to ten years in a California state prison. While serving that sentence Phillips was convicted for the assault on his ex-girlfriend for seven additional counts including assault with great bodily injury, false imprisonment, making a criminal threat, and auto theft. He was given a 30 year sentence of which he must serve 85 percent. That would have kept him in prison until he is 57 years old–until today and his alleged murder charge, which if found guilty and convicted will likely result in life without parole.
Phillips gave up millions and a great career in professional football because he had a propensity toward abusing women and essentially being a thug. As a Nebraska Cornhusker fan I am sad to see such a waste of God-given talent. In life, we all make choices, some are good and some are bad. Maybe because of Lawrence’s upbringing in foster homes he didn’t have the normal–if there is such a thing as normal–parent guidance that could have molded him into a person who understood the consequences of right versus wrong.
I can relate to Phillips to a certain degree. As evidence in my memoir, GO FIGURE: My Wacky Journey From Outlaw to Leading Citizen, I too was on a criminal path and reached a point where I had to face my demons and make a hard choice. In my case, I chose to give up a substantial illegal income in order to protect my wife and child. To this day it still gives me the chills to imagine how I would have failed them, had I ended up in prison. My hope in documenting my story was that it might provide inspiration to parents of troubled teens, and/or the wayward teens themselves. Please go to rickcarlegofigure.com to find out more.
It is too late for Phillips, but I cross my fingers that parents and guardians who are reading this will be motivated to step it up, and go the extra mile, in helping disadvantaged kids who have strayed to get back on the righteous path.