(and he was a Congressman?)
Associated Press, pool)
Lawrence Phillips already had one of the most troubled stories in NFL history, and Monday brought news of possibly an even more disturbing chapter.
Phillips, who had a disappointing pro career after being a top-10 draft pick, is suspected of killing his cellmate in a California prison, according to officials at the facility. The 39-year-old former running back has been incarcerated at Fresno's Kern Valley State Prison since receiving a combined 31-year sentence in 2008 for separate incidents of assault.
A spokesman for the prison said Monday that 37-year-old Damion Soward was found unresponsive on Saturday in the cell he shared with Phillips. Soward, who was serving a term of 82 years to life for a first-degree murder conviction, was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The spokesman also said a different prisoner is accused of murdering his own cellmate at the same prison on Saturday, but it is unclear if the two deaths are related.
Phillips had a stellar career at Nebraska, where he won two national titles and finished eighth in the 1994 Heisman Trophy voting. But he was also twice accused of assault, including in an incident involving a member of the Cornhuskers basketball team who had been his girlfriend.
The Rams overlooked the running back's off-field controversies in favor of his talent and took him sixth overall in 1996. His character issues resurfaced and the team released him the next year, after which Phillips played sparingly for the Dolphins and 49ers before running into similar problems in the AFL and CFL.
In 2005, Phillips was arrested for driving his car into a group of people on a playing field and injuring three teenagers; he was said to have become enraged after losing in a pickup football game. That same year, he was also arrested for assaulting another girlfriend, and eventually he was given a sentence of 31 years.
Associated Press, pool)
Lawrence Phillips already had one of the most troubled stories in NFL history, and Monday brought news of possibly an even more disturbing chapter.
Phillips, who had a disappointing pro career after being a top-10 draft pick, is suspected of killing his cellmate in a California prison, according to officials at the facility. The 39-year-old former running back has been incarcerated at Fresno's Kern Valley State Prison since receiving a combined 31-year sentence in 2008 for separate incidents of assault.
A spokesman for the prison said Monday that 37-year-old Damion Soward was found unresponsive on Saturday in the cell he shared with Phillips. Soward, who was serving a term of 82 years to life for a first-degree murder conviction, was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The spokesman also said a different prisoner is accused of murdering his own cellmate at the same prison on Saturday, but it is unclear if the two deaths are related.
Phillips had a stellar career at Nebraska, where he won two national titles and finished eighth in the 1994 Heisman Trophy voting. But he was also twice accused of assault, including in an incident involving a member of the Cornhuskers basketball team who had been his girlfriend.
The Rams overlooked the running back's off-field controversies in favor of his talent and took him sixth overall in 1996. His character issues resurfaced and the team released him the next year, after which Phillips played sparingly for the Dolphins and 49ers before running into similar problems in the AFL and CFL.
In 2005, Phillips was arrested for driving his car into a group of people on a playing field and injuring three teenagers; he was said to have become enraged after losing in a pickup football game. That same year, he was also arrested for assaulting another girlfriend, and eventually he was given a sentence of 31 years.
