KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, August 18, 2005 7:00 pm
Lawrence Phillips, the name that is used synonymously with all that troubles major college football, is in the news again.
The former Husker is being sought for questioning by the San Diego police in connection with a domestic violence case, according to a story in Thursday's San Diego Union-Tribune.
The story also said Phillips, 30, has an outstanding felony warrant from Los Angeles for an unrelated domestic violence case.
Attempts to reach Phillips this week were unsuccessful.
Phillips was arrested and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault of a former girlfriend and trespassing in a highly publicized incident in Lincoln in September 1995.
Former Husker coach Tom Osborne, now a congressman, said Thursday before the San Diego story broke that he received a couple of phone calls about three months ago from Phillips.
"We hadn't talked in four years or so, and he sounded like things were getting better," Osborne said. "He coached some in North Carolina, was coaching in high school in California and was trying to get his life back on track."
Phillips helped coach St. Augustine College in Raleigh, N.C., last fall. Head coach Michael Costa said Phillips was valuable to the program and was welcome back, but had not returned.
Osborne said he believed Phillips would have trouble returning to pro football.
"Too much water under the bridge and it seemed like a better ending to the story was going to be hard," Osborne said before the latest news.
"You always hope a player can find his way and it's surprising how many do right away, in five years or 10 years. We win more of those battles than we lose."
Tony Zane, Phillips' high school coach at Baldwin Park High in West Covina, Calif., also had recent contact with Phillips.
"It wasn't that long ago that we talked and it seemed like he was getting his life in order and trying to start over," Zane said.
"I hadn't heard from him in a long time but he called and he was in good spirits and was working out in San Diego, seeing if he could get another shot at pro football," Zane said. "Things were getting better, it seemed."
Reports that Phillips had pawned a Big Eight championship ring for $20 a year ago in Las Vegas were downplayed by those who had been with Phillips lately.
"He was here for almost a month last winter and he was doing fine," said Clinton Childs, a former NU teammate. "We talked about him getting back into football and caught up on old times. He had some personal problems in the past, and I don't know what this latest deal is about.
"But I haven't talked to him in a while and know that sometimes bad news is bad news and sometimes it's reported incompletely."
In 1995, Phillips was suspended for six games for hitting a woman and dragging her down stairs. But he was reinstated to the team for the final three games and played in the national championship game against Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Osborne was criticized for "winning at all costs."
Since then, Phillips has:
n left NU after his junior season to make himself eligible for the 1996 NFL Draft. He was the first-round pick (No. 6 overall) of the St. Louis Rams, but was released the following season after a California arrest for driving while intoxicated and a confrontation with police at an Omaha hotel;
n signed with the Miami Dolphins in 1998, but was released after being charged with hitting a woman in the face at a nightclub;
n been voted the 1999 offensive player of the year in NFL Europe with 1,021 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns for the Barcelona Dragons;
n signed with the San Francisco 49ers, but was cut after a confrontation with running backs coach Tom Rathman, a former Husker;
n pleaded no contest in 2000 to a number of charges in connection with another beating of a woman in his home in Los Angeles;
n led the Montreal Alouettes to the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup title in 2002, but not without incident. He walked out on the team in a salary disupte, but returned near the end of the season, then was cut by the team after he was charged with the sexual assault of a girlfriend; and
n signed with the Calgary Stampeders, but quit the CFL team in 2003 in a dispute over offensive strategy.
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or at khambleton@journalstar.com.