Tom's greatest challenge

Over a very long and illustrious career, Tom Osborne has touched, and helped a countless number of lives, for the better -- on the football field, to maximize their athletic skills, but also to be better team players, better husbands and family men. In later years he has helped young men and women with his Teammates Program, to achieve life goals in a positive manner.

Many top notch athletes came to Nebraska with issues that had nothing to do with football. I remember one fellow who held up a gas station and could have gone to jail---another who was sent to prison. Tom continued to stand by these fellows after they left NU. Those fellows have become model citizens who have continued to help others with similar problems.

One of Tom's greatest challenges, and probably his greatest disappointment was Lawrence Phillips, a gifted athlete from Baldwin Park, California. Phillips was born in Arkansas, but had been raised in a number of different foster homes in the Los Angeles area. His one refuge, as a youth, was the strong youth football program in the San Gabriel Valley, a hot-bed of football talent in California. Lawrence was a football standout from the beginning.

When it came time for high school, there were a number of area high schools that recruited him. He settled on West Covina, where he played as a freshman and sophomore. Phillips ended up playing for Baldwin Park for his Junior and Senior seasons.

People nationally will remember Phillips as a running back with Hall of Fame talent, who blew it all with poor off-field choices. But in the San Gabriel Valley, Phillips will always hold a special place in the hearts of those who knew him personally, played with and against him, coached him, or simply watched him shine while carrying the ball.

Thomas Kope, California sports historian, lives in Baldwin Park and got to see Phillips play some of his high school games. He recalls Phillips as a man among boys on the gridiron -- a mountain of muscle, big and fast, unstoppable.

Opposing coaches devised strategies to stop him. But Phillips was simply too physical for high school defenders to stop. When he wasn't running over people, he ran around them, with blazing speed. Phillips' coach at Baldwin Park, Tony Zane recalled that in one game he benched Phillips for fumbling and Baldwin Park fell behind 10-0. He put Phillips back in the game to receive the kickoff, emphasizing the need to hang on to the ball. Phillips responded by returning the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Baldwin Park went on to win the game.

Phillips accepted a Nebraska scholarship offer for the 1993 season. He seemed to do well in Lincoln. He liked the coaches and he got along with the other players. During a very successful season he worked his way onto the field for more playing time. In the UCLA game he came off the bench to spark the Husker offense, ending up with 137 yards and a touchdown, leading to a 14-13 victory over the PAC-10 Champs. In the Orange Bowl game against #1 Florida State, Phillips rushed for 183 yard against the #1 Seminoles. Nebraska lost that game 16-18, but it established Phillips' place as the #1 Running Back for the 1994 season.

In 1994 Phillips became the focal point of the Husker offense when quarterbacks Tommie Frazier and Brook Berringer both were sidelined with injuries for much of the season. Phillips responded. He tied the school record with 11-100 plus yard games, and 1,722 rushing yards, still a sophomore record. His play was pivotal in an Orange Bowl 24-17 victory over #3 Miami. The win led to a National Championship for Nebraska.

Though Phillips star was bright on the football field throughout the 1994 season, his violent ways began to reappear off the field. Before the Oklahoma game Phillips was charged with assault against his girlfriend. Legal action would not take place until after the season ended.

When the 1995 season rolled around Phillips was again in the national spotlight. He was a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. In an early game against Michigan St. he rushed for 207 yards and scored four touchdowns. After the first two games was averaging over 11 yards per carry and had scored six touchdowns. However, Phillips was still criticized out for off-the-field problems. The NCAA announced a continuing investigation into "unspecified" irregularities.

Hours after the Michigan State game Phillips was arrested for assaulting his girl-friend, a Husker basketball player. Apparently he dragged her down a flight of steps. He pleaded not guilty, but was suspended by Coach Osborne for six games. There was widespread criticism (nationally) that he be kicked off the team permanently---that Osborne was coddling his star. Coach Osborne argued that such action might do more harm than good, and he felt that staying in the structured environment of school, with professional help was the better course. For this he took much abuse from the press, but did not back down, and Phillips continued to help the team. In the Fiesta Bowl, #1 Nebraska routed #2 Florida State. Phillips had 165 yards rushing, two TDs, in 25 carries and scored another touchdown on a 16 yard pass reception.

After the season Phillips and Osborne sat down to talk about Phillips' future. Phillips was insistent, (and it is assumed against Osborne's advice), he declared for the Pro-draft---with Osborne's blessing and good wishes,. He had one more year of college eligibility remaining.

Despite reservations as to his character, Phillips was drafted 6th over-all by the St. Louis Rams in the 1996 NFL draft. He did fine on the field, but after his second year he was abruptly released by the Rams for insubordination. It was an indication of his future in football.

In subsequent years Phillips went on to play for the Miami Dolphins, the Barcelona Dragons of the European NFL League, the San Francisco 49ers, the Florida Bobcats of the Arena Football League, and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian League. Each time he was released. He could not submit to authority, and that gradually led to diminished football skills.

In 2005 Phillips was sent to California Kern Valley State Prison on a variety of charges, including assault, and driving his automobile into a crowd after a pick-up game of football, for a total of some 32 years. During his time in prison he continued contact with some of his high school coaches, who feel that remembering those HS times was his greatest joy in life.

In April 2015 Phillips' cellmate was found strangled in his cell. Phillips was the prime suspect. Before his case of murder could come to trial, on January 10, 2016 Phillips was found dead in his cell. It was ruled suicide, but as usual, circumstances were suspect---organized crime ties, etc. so we do not know for sure what happened. Upon his death Phillips' family donated his brain to the Boston University for examination.

There are many people in Nebraska who still believe that if only Phillips had stayed another year at N U. under Osborne's tutelage things might have been different. It had to have been a huge disappointment for Osborne, who has had so many successes.

Phillips' high school coach at Baldwin Park, Tony Zane, stayed in touch with Phillips in the years after high school, and considered himself a life-long friend. Recently, he reflected on his association with his former football star. "The way things had been going, I think it was inevitable that something would happen to him...He was not going to be alive very long there in prison." But Zane preferred to recall Phillips' time in high school.

Thomas Kope recently talked about Phillips. He recalled that he was acquainted with one of Phillips' girl friends when Phillips was shattering records at Baldwin Park High. Half in jest he urged her marry Phillips. He was going to be a millionaire someday playing Pro-football. "Maybe she could have rescued him" he mused -- "or maybe it's a good thing she didn't because he might have killed her. Anyway, may his tortured soul rest in peace."

Source: San Gabriel Tribune; correspondence with Thomas Kope; Recent News stories