The draft is always a crap-shoot. No matter how sure a thing a player looks on film or in interviews it doesn’t guarantee they will be a franchise player. Even Peyton Manning wasn’t considered a sure thing when he entered the league in 1998 and no one saw Tom Brady coming which is why he still reminds the world that he was taken in the 6th round.
When a player busts and busts hard they are always immortalized as a cautionary tale and there are certainly enough busts on every team to go around. ESPN.com named the biggest draft busts for each team and for the Rams the selection was a little surprising unless you know your history. Lawrence Phillips taken in 1996 was declared the worst decision the Rams ever made and given the circumstances around him it makes complete sense.
Lawrence Phillips was an outstanding back at the University of Nebraska where he had 3,102 yards and 33 touchdowns. He had a legendary performance in the 1994 Orange Bowl where they won a National Championship and later lead the team to a 1996 National Championship over The University of Florida.
Unfortunately, as incredible as Lawrence Phillips was on the field he was less than stellar off of it. While at Nebraska, Phillips had several incidents including one where he was accused of grabbing a student by the neck resulting in a string of charges. He was later charged for failing to complete the requirements of a pretrial diversion program.
Prior to the 1996 National Championship game Phillips was broke into quarterback Scott Frost’s room and assaulted Nebraska basketball player Kate McEwen. Coach Tom Osborne started Phillips anyway due to internal pressure from the school.
The Rams saw passed Lawrence Phillips glaring character flaws and took him anyway with the 6th overall pick and what made matters worse was they traded future Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis soon after. After a decent rookie season, he showed signs of improvement before he was suddenly released in November of that season.
Coach Dick Vermeil was crestfallen at the decision but had to due to Phillips coming to practice intoxicated and there were further off the field incidents. Phillips would later play for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers before trying to salvage what was left of his career in the Arena and Canadian Football leagues.
During all of this Phillips was still plagued by legal issues including several murder charges and convictions. In 2016 he would be found in his cell dead of an apparent suicide. Lawrence Phillips’s story was chronicled in the documentary Running for His Life: The Lawrence Phillips Story. Following Phillips’ time with the Rams they would later trade for Marshall Faulk.
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