I ravis Heying/UN
Nebraska l-back Lawrence Phillips, followed by several members of the media, enters a district courtroom for his
arraignment on Sept. 12. Phillips pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor charges then later pleaded no contest.
The controversy
surrounding the
i
football team all came
to a head during one
week in September.
By Jeff Zeleny
hile the Nebraska
Cornhuskers were tucked
into their hotel beds in
East Lansing, Mich., on the
morning of Sept, 9, trouble already
was brewing at home.
The 66 players who traveled to
Michigan State University attended
team meetings Friday night and
returned to their rooms at the
Radisson Hotel for a 10:30 curfew. A
little more than 12 hours later, No. 2
Nebraska began its rout on the
unranked Spartans.
About five hours after that curfew -
and 750 miles away — a domestic
Jay Calderon/DN
Phillips takes a rest during the Huskers’ game against Iowa State, his first
game after being reinstated to the team. j
argument was under way in Lincoln
A pulled hamstring had kept
Nebraska I-back Damon Benning at
home. About 2 a m., Vonetta Bowden,
a 19-year-old former girlfriend of
Benning, called police and accused
him of assault. He was arrested a few
hours later.
Benning was cleared 10 days later,
but the damage already had been
done and the trouble had just begun.
In East Lansing, though, all seemed
well for the national champion
Cornhuskers. Eyes were focused on
Lawrence Phillips. The junior I-back
from West Covina, Calif., ran away
with the game. He scored nearly half
of the Huskers’ 50 points with four
touchdowns and 206 yards rushing.
It was prime national exposure for
Nebraska and its Heisman Trophy
prospect.
The horizon seemed to hold a
simple, easy, restful week for the
Huskers as they headed home.
As the jet rolled across the tarmac at
the Lincoln Municipal Airport, Coach
Tom Osborne’s voice came over the
intercom as it does after every road
game. He congratulated the team on
its ">u-iu victory.
Have a nice night,” Mike Muinix,
executive director of university
relations, recalls Osborne saying, “but
stay out of trouble.”
In fewer than 12 hours, those words
would prove to be an ominous
warning.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon on
Sept. 10. 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
up his girlfriend last night.”
W hile the city slept early Sunday,
police believe Phillips scaled the
outside of a Meadow Wood Apart
ments 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 later