Showtime Running For His Life: Lawerence Phillips

[GBRHouston]

I watched it with my grandmother. Such a sad life that may not have happened if he wasn't bred in such a hostile environment. From what I gathered, he was a really good guy until he got pissed off. He deserved jail time for what he did, but it is sad that he did all that stuff in the first place.

 

[AZRaiderH8r]

Really a tragic story, and I thought the documentary was very well done. It didn't hide any of the issues (and actually provided a lot of details) or try to excuse his actions. But, it did provide some light into the horrible things he endured and how it impacted him as an adult. Hearing from his former teammates really provided a lot of insight into how well liked he was. I also appreciated them mentioning the fact that the team had Ahman Green there to replace him, so the decision to bring him back wasn't about winning games as so many detractors said at the time.

 

[MasterPulverizer]

Reminds me of a kid I had in class one year. Always put his head down and slept. I used to fuss at him and make him stand up nect to his desk so that he wouldn't fall asleep. Tried every punishment in the book but none of them worked. Finally I just sat down with him and asked why he was do tired all the time. I figured it was because he was staying up at night playing video games, or talking/texting like a lot of kids do. He finally opened up to me and told me that his stepfather was abusive and was molesting his little sister - said he'd get drunk at night and then go after her. He said he had to stay up all night to protect her from his stepdad. Man it made my heart break, and I felt horrible for assuming what I had. You never know what these kids are going through. It certainly doesn't excuse LP from what he did and the choices he made, but experiencing evil at a young age can have a drastic impact on a child's mind.

This.

Unfortunately, when this kid or his little sister grow up and this trauma causes severe emotional problems and creates a variety of issues, no one will be there to understand the circumstances that led to their behavior. If, for example, someone with this kind of trauma in their life becomes a life long criminal, our society and judicial system will say something to the effect of "it's too bad you went through that as a child, but you're an adult but you shouldn't act like that so here's your prison sentence because we don't know anything better to do with you."

Seeing and hearing things like this happening to children is about the only thing that I am passionate about. It hurts to hear peoples lives end up like this. If only they could have trusted an adult to help them seek help.

 

[louisianared]

Reminds me of a school I taught at. Pretty bad, underfunded inner-city school (in the highest crime area of the city).

Had a kid that was always acting out. Nothing exceptionally bad, but just enough to get sent to in-school suspension. Eventually found out that his father had killed his mom and was then killed by the police in a standoff shortly after. All of this occurred in front of him when he was 5 years old. Had bounced between family members (all of which had severe drug/crime problems) and foster homes. Turned out he liked going to in-school suspension because the teacher in there (who was VERY strict and intimidating) provided him with a father figure that he never had.

Once I realized what he was doing I was able to reach him and never had problems with him. Kid even became a pretty solid student academically. Impossible for me to imagine how he viewed the world.

He is now over 18 and has been in and out of the prison system for a few years now for mostly minor crimes (drug possession, petty theft).

 

[eoltmer]

Did anyone else notice that when TO talked about not going the easy road with him, and make you think about how our public institutions are handling these kind of incidents now a days. Most recent example is Oklahoma and Mixon. Everyone wants that house burned to the ground and even Stoops said that if that happened not even a year later that he would have been booted and turned loose back on society. Yet no one even asked the why and how do we fix this with this kid? It's so easy to do the easy thing, so maybe when someone does the hard thing we should take the time and maybe even applaud it as long as it's the right thing to do. I applaud TO for the stand he made and wish all those hurt can get the help they need in life. RIP #1

 

[NU5XChamps]

There is more to this issue then just the abusers. I used to "bounce" in a bar in Colorado Springs. We always had the football players from CU there as well as the athletes from the Olympic Training facility. They would bring their "posse" with them, which always included the new girl. Too much booze and then a fight always broke out with the girl getting the worst of it. Usually because the "stud" found another new gir. However, every time, and I mean EVERY TIME, we would get the guy to through him out of the bar, the girl would come after us. Didn't matter that we just saved her from a beat down or worse. Doesn't justify what the athlete did, but something is wrong with the girl as well.

Just like the LP deal, what was she thinking by hooking up with Frost? Again, didn't deserve what happened, based on what one of the other players said, but they all knew not to mess with LP. Doesn't make since to me. It wasn't "true love" or anything like that, she was manipulating him. She wanted to make him mad.

 

[Redux]

Got to watch it the other night. Very well done. Makes it easy to sympathize with LP for his terrible childhood and his inability to deal with his temper. Also makes it easy to loathe him for the choices he made.

Am I the only one who hated that b!^@h attorney?

 

[eoltmer]

Got to watch it the other night. Very well done. Makes it easy to sympathize with LP for his terrible childhood and his inability to deal with his temper. Also makes it easy to loathe him for the choices he made.

Am I the only one who hated that b!^@h attorney?

If your talking that prosecutor I had that same vibe listening to her but then I realized that's the way she has to be hard wired to win cases. The prosecution job it to put these guys away for as long as possible not to do what they might feel is right or wrong that's the juries job.

 

[eoltmer]

There is more to this issue then just the abusers. I used to "bounce" in a bar in Colorado Springs. We always had the football players from CU there as well as the athletes from the Olympic Training facility. They would bring their "posse" with them, which always included the new girl. Too much booze and then a fight always broke out with the girl getting the worst of it. Usually because the "stud" found another new gir. However, every time, and I mean EVERY TIME, we would get the guy to through him out of the bar, the girl would come after us. Didn't matter that we just saved her from a beat down or worse. Doesn't justify what the athlete did, but something is wrong with the girl as well.

Just like the LP deal, what was she thinking by hooking up with Frost? Again, didn't deserve what happened, based on what one of the other players said, but they all knew not to mess with LP. Doesn't make since to me. It wasn't "true love" or anything like that, she was manipulating him. She wanted to make him mad.

True that, a lot of times the victim isn't necessarily a victim but just a dumb college student wondering around aimlessly looking for food. Oh and don't forget all of this falls back to the original problems.....PARENTS or lack there of.

 

[Redux]

Got to watch it the other night. Very well done. Makes it easy to sympathize with LP for his terrible childhood and his inability to deal with his temper. Also makes it easy to loathe him for the choices he made.

Am I the only one who hated that b!^@h attorney?

If your talking that prosecutor I had that same vibe listening to her but then I realized that's the way she has to be hard wired to win cases. The prosecution job it to put these guys away for as long as possible not to do what they might feel is right or wrong that's the juries job.

Yeah that's her. Totally understandable that was her side. But when that was filmed he was already deceased I believe, so it really felt like salt in the wound.

 

[NM11046]

Just finished it - tough to watch, sad for sure but they did a nice job. I appreciated them not passing judgement with the content.

And no, I didn't find the prosecutor to be tough to listen to. I can understand why she made every comment she did - I still have questions on whether it was suicide or murder, or if his cell mate was a self defense issue or outright murder. We'll never know, and her job was to point out the discrepancies. I don't think there's a doubt that LP had a terrible upbringing, but he was also given more opportunity and chances than most because of his talent. We also try harder to see the good in him because of what he meant to Nebraska FB. You only need to watch him during the court interaction with the guard to see his potential fury and how it could get triggered.

Happy new year everybody! For what it's worth, I'll take a team like we have right now, with (hopefully) balanced, mentored kids than a championship team where we make sacrifices in order to get talent but not character.