Spoiled Rotten

Former college great and NFL running back Lawrence Philips, age 40, died in a California prison yesterday.  Officials believe that Philips, convicted of domestic abuse and trying to use his car as a weapon as well as being a suspect in the murder of his cellmate, committed suicide.

My guess is that the convict was no worse a human being than the college or NFL player.  It was talent on the gridiron that most likely kept Philips out of jail.  But once that ability to shed tackles and score touchdowns left him, Philips was destined to end up where he did.  This is what happens to athletes who never mature.

I remember a softball tournament where a star player was holding court.  As I recall, she was a pitcher who’d had a really good game, probably a lot of strikeouts and rbi’s to stoke her college dreams (and, no doubt, her parents’).  What struck me first was how this 13- or 14-year old was all buddy-buddy with adults, joking around and slapping backs.  Then she went out for the seventh inning and got rocked, the big lead turning into a loss.  After that came the yelling and swearing; the girl threw her glove almost as hard as opposing batter had hit her pitches.  Lawrence Philips couldn’t have done it better at that age.