Players’ off-field trouble causes concern
By J. Christopher Hain
Editor
The shining image of the Nebraska foot
ball team is becoming tarnished faster than
coach Tom Osborne can polish it.
The top two I-backs on
the team, Lawrence
Phillips and Damon
Benning, . have run
aground with the law.
Both Phillips and
Benning are accused of
assaulting ex-girlfriends.
And Phillips, a leading
Heisman Trophy candi
date, has been kicked off
the team.
Those incidents — and several others
involving players—have made the sanctity
of the Comhusker image a matter of concern.
- Over the last few years, four other Ne
braska players have been involved in less
than glorious off-the-field incidents.
• Tyrone Williams, starting comerback,
is accused of firing a gun at a person in a car.
• Reggie Baul, starting split end, was
found guilty of receiving a stolen wallet.
• Riley Washington, reserve split end,
awaits trial on charges of attempted second
degree murder.
• Christian Peter, starting defensive
tackle, was found guilty of third-degree sexual
assault. He also has been fined for third
degree assault and other offenses.
With six prominent players in trouble,
comparisons might be drawn between Ne
braska and other football programs with
muddied reputations.
But UNL Interim Chancel lor Joan Leitzel
said the Nebraska football program was not
in danger of mirroring situations like those at
the University of Oklahoma in 1989 and the
University of Miami over the past few years.
“The athletic program has been a highly
regulated and responsible program,” Leitzel
said.
The University of Oklahoma football pro
gram descended into lawlessness in 1989,
....—-- m
Jon Waller/DN
Philitos^ismissai ftSm theteam speaks after Prac,ice “onday to members of the media about l-back Lawrence
snoniy aner tne program was placed on three
years of probation by the NCAA.
OU football players were accused of a
gang-rape, a shooting and cocaine dealing,
among other things.
Thissummer, Sports Illustrated published
an article addressing the continuing prob
lems with the University of Miami football
program.
Miami football players have been charged
with drunken driving, burglary, arson, as
sault and sexual battery. v
However, most of the crimes attributed to
Nebraska football players are less serious
than those at Miami or Oklahoma. And Ne
braska has yet to encounter serious NCAA
violations.
Leitzel’s concern is the behavioral prob
lems of Phillips and Benning.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James
Griesen said the incidents involving both
Phillips and Benning would be reviewed to
determine if they violated the Student Code
of Conduct.
If so, a number of sanctions could be
taken against either player, including warBR>:.c
ings, restitution or even expulsion.
Osborne said the football team would
continue to support Phillips, despite his dis
missal from the team.
But Osborne has been affected by all the
media attention targeted at his players and
their troubles.
“There comes a time,” the coach said at a
luncheon Monday, “when this all kind of
weighs on me.”
L
Phillips
Continued from Pgge 1
sophomore record by rushing for 1,722 yards,
the second highest rushing total in Nebraska
history.
This season, Phillips ran for 359 yards and
seven touchdowns on 34 attempts in two games,
an average of 10.6 yards per carry. In his 24
game career, the preseason All-American has
rushed for 2,589 yards, ranking sixth on the all
time Comhusker rushing charts.
‘‘We lost a great player in Lawrence Phillips,”
Osborne said Monday at the Extra Point lun
cheon , where he was speaking before a group of
boosters. “Lawrence was probably playing as
good as any I-back we have had in a long time.”
In most-cases, Osborne said the Unity Coun
cil —a group made up of two football players
from each position—set the policy on suspen
sions and dismissals from the team.
Under Unity Council rules, a player is per
manently dismissed after twice losing five points
on the team’s merit scale.
If a player is convicted of a felony, he loses
the full five points. Conviction of a misde
meanor costs a player four points.
A player loses three points for missing prac
tice, two points for missing a meeting and one
point for missing a class or tutoring session. If
a player loses all five points, he is suspended
from the team. ,
The second time a player loses all five points,
he is usually thrown off the team permanently.
Phillips was suspended for one game in 1993
for fighting with a teammate. Since then, he has
not been suspended.
Osborne, who made the decision to remove
Phillips, said he reserved the right to overstep
the power of the Unity Council.
“There is a certain amount of discretion left
up to me as coach,” he said. “And there is pretty
good communication among the team members
as to why somebody isn’t playing. -
“I imagine there have been 1,000 rumors
spread around this room today, and probably
one or two people actually know what hap
pened.
“And I hope I am one of them. I may not be,
but I hope that I am.”
Osborne said he was confident the Huskers
would overcome this distraction. Nebraska play
ers decided Monday afternoon that they would
not talk to the media this week—about Phillips
or anything else.
Phillips has been under a great deal of scru
tiny from the NCAA and the media recently
concerning his relationship with a professional
sports agent. Osborne said the pressure may
have indirectly contributed to Phillips’ actions
Sunday morning.
“I understand the press,” Osborne said. “They
have got a tough job to do. There comes a time
when this all kind of weighs on me.
“You have to understand how difficult it isto
be a young person. They (football players) are
not normal col 1 ege students. They get way more
credit than they deserve when they score a
touchdown,” he said.
Though Phillips is not the victim in this
' incident, Osborne said he would be sympathetic
toward his player, considering his background.
• jhink he knows that I am with him in
spirit, Osborne said. “Lawrence has come up
the hard way. He’s a survivor, and I am hoping
he will survive this, too.
“Basically when you are without any parents
at age 11, and you are on your own, you find a
way to get by. Some of the survival techniques
that he s had have led him to getting in some
trouble.
“I haven’t given up on him as a person ” .
Travis Heying/DN
The Meadow Wood Apartments at
4440 N. 7th St., where junior l-back^
Lawrence Phillips allegedly
assaulted his ex-girlfriend, NU
basketball player Kate McEwen.
_ 1
Witness
Continued from Page 1
the apartment.
Police said Phillips entered Frost’s apart
ment through an unlocked sliding door. As
Frost called police from a cellular phone, Casady
said, Phillips allegedly began beating McEwen.
“He was just completely out of control. He
was totally irrational,” the UNL junior said.
“Scott kept saying, ‘What about football?”’
Police said Frost filed a trespassing com
plaint against Phillips.
Police called NU Athletic Department offi
cials to the crime scene. They helped police
locate Phillips, who turned himself in at 8:15
p.m. Sunday.
An hour later, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne
announced he had kicked Phillips off the team.
McEwen received a cut to her head and
several scrapes and bruises. She was treated and
released at Lincoln General Hospital.
McEwen went to her parents home in To
peka, Kan., after the alleged assault. Numerous
attempts to contact her Monday were unsuc
cessful.
Lincoln attorney Hal Anderson said Phillips
will plead not guilty to the charges. Phillips is
scheduled to be arraigned today.
The two women said they knew McEwen but
were not close friends. But they immediately
went outside their apartment when they heard
the young woman’s screams.
The struggle in the building’s foyer lasted
fewer than five minutes. Frost and the two
witnesses tried to get McEwen inside the secu
rity door.
“When he pulled back and pulled her into the
wall, they (Phillips and McEwen) both hit die
flow,” the UNL junior said. “She started run
ning toward me. We pulled her into the apart
ment.”
