Lawrence Phillips

[Lmbass14]

Dr. Tom helped this guy out more than once.  My belief is that he helped him so UNL could get some National Championships, and good ol Dr. Tom gets a little monetary bonus.

It's not about the money, it's all about the money.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2015/04/14/ex-nfl-running-back-lawrence-phillips-suspected-killing-prison-cellmate/

[greg58]

A real slow learner, LP now has assured the public that he should never walk free again.
I don't blame Tom Osborne, I think his intentions were good, and controling the actions of 110 young athletes would be daunting.
In hindsight, sure he should have cut LP loose.
If I had 20/20 hindsight I would have bought Buffett's stock at $1900 a share, when I thought about it and passed!!
Greg58

[bullit]

And Barry Switzer was given a hard time ....  BOOMER !!!

[Lmbass14]

When the LP gig was going on, and he wasn't the only problem child, from what information that I had and you can't make a intelligent decision w/o all the facts, but what was publicly known, he'd be long gone, no matter how good he was.  That program is better than that.

[shooter]

 listening to the radio, and news on TV, They said, that the cell mate was found unresponsive on the floor, and he died later,  Lawrence Phillips  was put into solitary confinement, 

   BUT, no one has said that he did anything, he may have but I think you should wait till they tell us what happened, before we start jumping on people

[Mntnman]

So many people fault coach for trying to keep LP on the team where he could try and help him. I think a coach has a duty to shape young men. If you throw them off the team at the first sign of trouble, you are not doing the best thing for them. LP had many chances and still failed at life. Looking back it is easy to judge that he should have thrown him away.  What percentage of the young men influenced by coach were made better by him? I would say almost all. How would you like to send your son to play football, and hopefully give him a better life, then have a coaching staff wash their hands of them at the start of trouble?

Many like to point to the Peter bros and call them thugs. Well, they turned out pretty good, didn't they?

[Mntnman]

If he only cared about winning, I think he would have handled the Terrell Farley situation differently and we would have won the National Championship in 1996.

[Lmbass14]

If I sent my kids to play football, they would have the proper upbringing, including not to beat up you girlfriend, have respect for you elders/authority and such.  I don't care how good you are, you are not above anyone else or the law.  I'd give LP 1 chance, and the next time he committed a crime, obviously he's not paying attention.  Noticed I said crime.  Not being late to practice or something as little as that.  I'm talking about bar fights, murders, robberies, etc.  Every athlete is a ambassador to the University.  And they need act as such. 

Like I said in the above post, all I'm saying is what I would think about doing with the fact that the media gave out.  There could be more that we are not aware of.  Every circumstance is different so you have to decide what is best for everyone involved.

Granted Dr. Tom did great things for the thousands of people coached throughout his career.  Nobody can bat 1000.

And do you really think that TO didn't have his own interest at heart?

[Mntnman]

If I sent my kids to play football, they would have the proper upbringing...

Yep, and that is something LP never had. About the only chance he had in life was to be influenced by T.O. and even that couldn't make a respectable person out of him. Coach could have just thrown him away but he  was LP's only real chance so he felt it best to do everything he could for him. Coach still makes time for him, even traveling to California to see him in prison.  I have to respect the man for that.

[Mudinyeri]

And do you really think that TO didn't have his own interest at heart?

I got to know Dr. Osborne, and many of the football players, pretty well while I was at UNL. 

My estimation of Tom Osborne was that others truly mattered more to him than adding a couple more bucks to his bonus.  He lived comfortably, was not a big spender and sacrificed much to serve the players on the team.

With that said, most of the players that I got to know were ... troubled.  A hundred Tom Osbornes could have poured their heart and soul into some of these guys to no avail.

[Lmbass14]

Don't get me wrong, I thought TO was outstanding coach and father figure.  Just didn't agree 100% of the time of his decisions.  There again I don't know all the facts, and this is about LP not TO.  Although TO didn't wow me when he was a senator.

And I'm not saying LP did the anything.  His cell mate could have had a heart attack or something.

Will have to wait and see. 

[Mntnman]

There again I don't know all the facts, and this is about LP not TO.  Although TO didn't wow me when he was a senator.

I bet not, because he was a Congressman. Also, on the making a few extra bucks in bonuses, TO consistantly waived his raises to give the money to his assistants. Even when he was hired to be the AD, he said $250, 000 was more than enough. Guess what Eichorst is making.

[Lmbass14]

I bet not, because he was a Congressman. Also, on the making a few extra bucks in bonuses, TO consistantly waived his raises to give the money to his assistants. Even when he was hired to be the AD, he said $250, 000 was more than enough. Guess what Eichorst is making.

Whatever.

[NE Bull]

Yes, this guy went down a bad road and couldn't be helped.  Osborne did what he could for the boys when they were with him.
My question is:
WHAT THE 7734 DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FIREARMS RIGHTS?

Sorry, but ya'll are going on and on about this, yet an announcement that one of our active members, Board Member, Gun Owner, NFA and gun rights champion is actually running for NE State Legislature, and that post has but a few replies?  Maybe I just get excited over all the wrong stuff.

[FarmerRick]

Yes, this guy went down a bad road and couldn't be helped.  Osborne did what he could for the boys when they were with him.
My question is:
WHAT THE 7734 DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FIREARMS RIGHTS?

Sorry, but ya'll are going on and on about this, yet an announcement that one of our active members, Board Member, Gun Owner, NFA and gun rights champion is actually running for NE State Legislature, and that post has but a few replies?  Maybe I just get excited over all the wrong stuff.

Maybe everyone was at a shooting competition thingy. 

[Lmbass14]

Had to bring thread to closure.  Homicide.

http://news.yahoo.com/death-former-nfl-players-cellmate-ruled-homicide-newspaper-043641489--nfl.html

[depserv]

Tom Osborne goes to the same church I go to, and I've seen him give a couple of talks there.  He's really involved with a Big Brother style mentoring program he and his wife founded called TeamMates, and his talks are all about getting people involved with it.  If you listened to one of those talks, it would give you some insight into why he might have been more inclined to work with a troubled player than throw him away.  But you can't save them all, no matter how hard you try. 

For anyone who's interested, here's a link with information about the program:

http://teammates.org/about-teammates/

[NE Bull]

Funny story with that. (not to knock Dr. Tom but) We have those candy machines at work that are a fundraiser for Teammates.  A coworker actually knew the kid whose picture is featured on many of those dispensers..... now as a gownup, has multiple kids with multiple mamas- aka BabyDaddy. (Seems like he also got into some trouble down the line somewhere. )