HUSKER TURMOIL Friday, September 15,1995
Huskers
Continued from Page 1
A still Sunday
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon. Maybe too
quiet.
Osborne canceled his Sunday afternoon
office chat with reporters. It seemed odd, but
Osborne’s displeasure with the media is no
secret.
Mid-afternoon, anonymous calls began
trickling into newsrooms in Lincoln and
Omaha. ‘"The star player has been kicked off
the team," the callers proclaimed, “because he
beat his girlfriend up last night."
News reporters were curious. Sports writers
were nervous. And the national media had no
idea what story was waiting for them in Ne
braska.
While the city slept early Sunday, police
believe Phillips scaled the outside of a Meadow
Wood Apartments building to reach the third
floor home of reserve quarterback Scott Frost,
where Phillips found his former girlfriend.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said
Phillips came into the apartment through an
unlocked sliding door on the balcony. As Frost
called police, Casady said, Phillips allegedly
began beating Kate McEwen, a sophomore
guard on the Nebraska basketball team.
Police said McEwen was dragged across
carpet, down a flight of stairs and outside the
apartment complex at 4440 N. Seventh St.
Witnesses would later describe McEwen caught
in a violent tug-of-war between Frost and
Phillips.
“When we went out there, we saw Scott
Frost and Lawrence Phillips each pulling on
Kate,” said a UNL junior, who lives in the
building.
That witness and her roommate helped Frost
drag McEwen into a neighbor’s apartment
behind a locked security door. Blood from
McEwen’s head and body soaked a white T
shirt she was wearing.
The fight only lasted a few minutes, wit
nesses said. But they described the anger in
Phillips’ eyes as frightening.
“He was just completely out of control. He
was totally irrational,” said the UNL junior,
who lives on the first floor of the building.
“Scott kept saying, ‘What about football?”’
Witnesses said Phillips ran from the apart
ment a few minutes before police arrived at
4:48 a.m. Police said Phillips was their only
suspect and called NU Athletic Department
officials to the crime scene.
“We notified them and told them to look for
him,” said Lincoln Police Lt. Kent Woodhead.
“They were very cooperative.”
Phillips, who runs the 40-yard-dash in 4.48
seconds and is the fifth-fastest player on the
team, eluded police for 15 hours. About 8:15
p.m., Phillips turned himself into police with
attorney Hal Anderson at his side.
Phillips was booked into the Lancaster
County jail on suspicion of third-degree as
sault and trespassing. He was released from
jail about 9 p.m. after paying $100 — 10
percent of his $1,000 bond.
As details of Phillips’ arrest were made
known, coaches gathered to decide his fate.
About 40 minutes after Phillips posted bond,
Osborne issued a five-sentence statement that
would set the tone for undoubtedly one of the
most challenging weeks in his 23 years as head
coach.
“We have told all our players that abusive
behavior such as this will not be tolerated,”
Osborne said. “We will do everything we can
to help him get his life back together, but he is
dismissed from the football team, effective
immediately.”
Reporters already had started to ask ques
tions. Osborne apparently knew the story was
out, so he released his statement, dated Mon
day, Sept. 11, one day early.
Media pounces
The Heisman Trophy candidate is off the
team . What could Phillips have done to war
rant such drastic action? How can a reserve
receiver continue to practice as he awaits a
trial on attempted second-degree murder?
The answers to these questions were in
short supply Sunday night. But they were
being asked everywhere Monday — from the
police station, to a booster luncheon, to the
football field.
As if the Phillips situation wasn’t enough,
Benning’s arrest was revealed and Nebraska’s
top twoI-backs were both accused of assault
ing their former girlfriends.
A coach could hardly ask for a worse public
relations disaster.
Osborne was deluged with questions on a
Big Eight conference call Monday morning,
but his colleagues supported his decision to
remove Phillips. At the Extra Point Club lunch.
‘There comes a time when
this all kind of weighs on me ’
Lawrence Phillips aunt from Little Rock, Ark., walks beside him after his court arraignment this week PhiiliDs was horn
in Little Rock, but he grew up in West Covina, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb. n""ps was t>orn
the coach faced university donors who all had
questions about the football fiasco.
“I imagine there have been 1,000 rumors
spread around this room today, and probably
one or two people actually know what hap
pened," Osborne said at the University Club.
“And I hope I am one of them. I may not be, but
I hope that I am.”
Reporters from every part of the country
scrambled to Lincoln to document the tar
nished Nebraska image. The New York Times,
The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, ESPN
CNN, ABC, CBS ...
Nagging reporters asked nagging questions.
By noon, Osborne’s sound bites were on
radio call-in shows and television news breaks.
The media was unwavering and often unsym
pathetic.
“I understand the press. They have a tough
job to do," an exasperated Osborne said. “There
comes a time when this all kind of weighs on
me."
Reporters researched court files and pe
rused newspaper clippings to dig up players’
criminal histories. Old cases that locals had
forgotten became new fodder for national sto
ries.
Christian Peter. Reggie Baui. Tyrone Wil
liams.
This football research had to be gathered
before day’s end. It was required ammunition
for Tuesday — Tom Osborne’s first major
face-off with journalists.
Violence off field
On Tuesday, at a weekly press conference
that is usually dominated by lively sports chat
ter and injury reports, a tense silence con
trolled the room. After reporters finished their
lunch of cold cuts, pasta salad and brownies,
they grilled Osborne.
National reporters overshadowed local foot
ball beat writers in the South Stadium confer
ence room. Instead of detailing a team depth
chart, Osborne was forced to go through the
line-up of Huskers with criminal records.
The coach maintained that his players are
scrutinized more than other students.
“We’ve been portrayed, I guess, as a Mi
ami, but I don’t personally see it quite that
bad,” Osborne said. “I think that the thing you
have to understand is that when you have 150
players, there will be anywhere from three to
five incidents every year.”
Other national championship schools —
Miami, Oklahoma, Colorado — have had
troubles of their own. Gang rapes, weapons
violations and narcotic charges have tarnished
those institutions. But does it take a violent
streak to win on the Gridiron?
“No,” Osborne said firmly. “I’m a little
offended by that question.”
About two hours after Osborne’s press con
ference ended, Phillips was arraigned in
Lancaster County Court. He pleaded innocent
to the misdemeanor assault, trespassing and
destruction of property charges. A provision to
have no contact with Frost or McEwen was
added to his SI00 bond.
That court order could prevent an interest
ing challenge if Osborne would reinstate
Phillips.
“Whether he goes back to the team isn’t up
to me,” said Anderson, his attorney, “but in
terms of his bond, if that’s a limitation I’m sure
there’s something that could be arranged.”
A lasting image?
On Wednesday, University administrators
continued working to gloss over the negative
media attention by stressing UNL’s academic
strengths.
But the strong messages sent across the
country through video clips of Phillips and
Washington leaving courtrooms would be dif
ficult to counter.
“The athletic program has been a highly
regulated and responsible program,” said In
terim Chancellor Joan Leitzel.
Mulnix, who advises the chancellor, said
the weeklong spectacle could leave lasting
impressions.
“The reason that it will hang on for awhile
is because it appears that Tom has left the door
open, at least a crack. This will lead to specu
lation every week,” Mulnix said.
“I’ve never seen anything like it when you
have CNN, ESPN and ABC all show up in the
chancellor’s office the same day.”
National journalists picked the brains of
local reporters all week. ABC’s Dick Schaap
came to campus to chronicle the conflict. But
the veteran TV sports reporter said the national
image problem would not last.
“While there have been incidents in the
past, they have been relatively minor,” Schaap
said, “and have not stained the program or
coach Osborne.”
An S.I. Investigation
By Thursday, most reporters had left the
Nebraska controversy for a different city and
another story. Stragglers remained, but the
circus-like atmosphere had calmed.
The week dragged on. The story became
tiresome. A newspaper stand in the Nebraska
Union that had sold out by mid-afternoon
earlier in the week was still half full.
But students continued to line up to retrieve
their tickets. Most could care less if they would
see the Huskers with or without Phil lips. Husker
fans are waiting for what the state lives for —
football Saturday.
The team continued to practice Thursday.
They’ve been doing it all week long, but
reporters have been too busy to notice.
Tommie Frazier’s thigh has healed enough ...
to keep him in the starting quarterback spot. So
it seems things could be getting back to normal
on campus and in Lincoln.
But Osborne most likely won’t stop think
ing about this week until next Wednesday —
when the Sports Illustrated investigative piece
on Nebraska is published.
The coach already had answered some tough
questions and dodged even more. But Osborne
took a deep breath as he began his 22-minute
interview with Sports Illustrated. “They
sent two of you?” he asked, before the hard
hitting questions began. Osborne fidgeted as
the reporters questioned him in Memorial Sta
dium. He occasionally got a stern look on his
face, but did not lose his cool.
Sports Illustrated has investigated Miami,
Colorado and Oklahoma. It is a coach’s worst
fear. But Osborne handled it well, said reporter
Shelley Smith.
“He was good,” she said, “he didn’t freak at
all.”
Smith, who graduated from UNL in 1981,
said the story will feature “some fireworks.”
As Osborne walked away from the two
reporters, he took about 30 seconds to pose for
a picture with a few fans gathered on the field.
Then, he started to jog.
Around and around the field’s border, occa
sionally rounding a comer in the endzone. This
is his quiet time. Two construction workers
take a break and watch the man who has the
most winning record in college football. They
wave as he passes.
Regardless of what ESPN says or Sports
Illustrated writes, 76,000 screaming fans will
flock to Memorial Stadium tomorrow.
This is the Comhuskers’ state.
£
