Lawrence Phillips found dead in prison at age 40

Elf said:
StPaulHusker said:
It's probably best for him that it's over.
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For many folks this probably sounds cold hearted. I assure you it is not.

I had a brother that hung himself 25 years ago. That man couldn't outrun his demons either. At least now he is at peace. Same with Lawrence, he's finally at peace.
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It doesn't sound cold at all. He couldn't get away from his demons, plain and simple. No excuse for what he did, but this man was beyond troubled mentally.

 
AZHuskerFan said:
It varies based upon state, federal prison or jail, etc. but let's get real, even $1000 and a bus ticket in no way prepares anyone who just missed out on 30 years of outside life to be reinserted into society. You can knit pick the details but our prison system doesn't work. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/21/3667851/like-walk-jail-alone/
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You'd have made you case better going with that in the first place rather than making something up based on what might have been the case 50 years ago, if even then.

 
VA Husker Fan said:
AZHuskerFan said:
Very sad to hear this news and I agree with what everyone here seems to be saying. I also have to add our prison system is very messed up with over-crowding, long sentences, little to no hope, lack of rehabilitation, and I think in the end this all added up to Lawrence taking his own life. I don't condone anything he's done but it's tough for me to sit here and judge him as I have never come close to anything he's experienced in his childhood or life. We too easily forget about those who "break the law" or are sent off to jail as they are out of sight and out of mind. I'm still floored to this day that a prisoner who serves say 30 years, is finally let out and given a bus ticket, $5 and a think a bible. Really?
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No, not really. If something sounds unlikely, google it to see what the truth is. Can't say for sure this link is accurate, but it's more believable than what you claim. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/hardtime/gatemoney/

Someone released from a California jail gets $200 and transportation. I would assume they also get a parole officer and a place at a halfway house to at least give them a chance to get going. I'm sure there are many stories to be told about those things being no help at all, but it's not $5 and a bible.
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It's pretty damn close.

I used to teach at San Quentin, about 15 minutes from my house. Some guys have support systems outside prison they can't wait to get back to. Some guys have nothing. It's common knowledge -- and well reported -- that a shuttle from San Quentin will pull up at our downtown San Rafael bus depot, dislodge a prisoner with the bag he came in with, and leave him there with a day's worth of cash. If he has people, they can help him. If not, he's an unemployable fresh out of prison felon wandering the streets of an unfamiliar town.

It's not popular with the local gentry.

They may have to check in with a parole officer, but the parole officer is in no way obliged to help with a smooth transition.

It's sobering when I realize some of these guys went to prison for what me and my white suburban Nebraska buddies considered "hijinks"

 
And let's get real. Phillips got a free education including tutoring and whatever help he needed, anger management counseling, and a multi-million dollar contract, as well as personal help from people like Osborne, Vermeil, and Darlington. What do you think would've worked for him?

 
ColoradoHusk said:
cm husker said:
He was the main reason NU came back and won the '94 game against Miami.

And he dang near spurred a win against FSU the year before. He probably should have started that game in retrospect. Which is crazy when you're talking about jones being the starter.He He
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He played great against FSU in that Orange Bowl. He had a great 2nd half when Jones was pretty uneffective in the first half.
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I didn't realize that Phillips was suspended for the 1st half of the '94 Orange Bowl against FSU. He skipped a practice to see his mom (who had moved to Nebraska) after she got beat up by her boyfriend. Osborne wanted to suspend LP for the whole game for the skipped practice, but the team captains were able to talk TO into only a 1st half suspension.

Man, that's another "what if" for that game. Phillips had become the more effective RB by the end of that year, but he was only able to play half the game.

 
I have great memories of watching his games,but all of that is hard to like a guy after what he did. I understand he had major demons and LP might be one of the biggest what ifs in college/professional sports of all time.

RIP LP!

 
Terrible news.

A heartbreaking example of unfulfilled potential, both professionally, and as a human being. I've often thought it would have been in LP's best interest to stay in Nebraska, around people that cared for him, and could help him down the right path.

Always a Husker. Rest in Peace LP.

 
Lp was never an evil man just a boy who needed a family, like all children do. Football was his salvation and his curse. I hope he's enjoying God's salvation now.

 
VA Husker Fan said:
And let's get real. Phillips got a free education including tutoring and whatever help he needed, anger management counseling, and a multi-million dollar contract, as well as personal help from people like Osborne, Vermeil, and Darlington. What do you think would've worked for him?
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Not sure. Might have been too late by that point. He was going to sabotage anything good that came his way, because he couldn't trust anything good.

And a million dollar contract is dangerous to a guy like that.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
VA Husker Fan said:
And let's get real. Phillips got a free education including tutoring and whatever help he needed, anger management counseling, and a multi-million dollar contract, as well as personal help from people like Osborne, Vermeil, and Darlington. What do you think would've worked for him?
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Not sure. Might have been too late by that point. He was going to sabotage anything good that came his way, because he couldn't trust anything good.

And a million dollar contract is dangerous to a guy like that.
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No amount of anything can make up for the unconditional love of being raised in a family. This is what a broken and damaged family produces and I fully blame his mother.

 
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