*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Jun 30, 1998: -- Phillips Under Investigation --
ESPN is reporting this afternoon that the police in
Plantation, Florida are investigating Dolphins running back Lawrence
Phillips for assault and battery as the result of a complaint filed by
a woman who alleges that Phillips hit her in the mouth hard enough to
cause dental damage. The incident is reported to have occurred at a
nightclub in Plantation this weekend.
The details are that Phillips approached the woman and asked her
to dance. When she refused, Phillips is alleged to have hit the woman
in the mouth.
According to ESPN, the police in Plantation are investigating
the charges at this time, but have yet to file any formal charges
against Phillips and have not arrested him. The police have further
stated that they will have a statement on the matter later this
afternoon.
Phillips has been in trouble several times before, most
notably in college in 1995 when he pleaded "no-contest" to a charge
that he battered his girlfriend. As a result of this charge, Phillips
was sentenced to one year probation.
My Comments:
If this charge proves to be true - and I believe that it
probably is - Phillips should be kicked off the team and left to
contemplate the fact that his lack of control has ruined his life.
Of course, the charges could turn out to be false. He is a
man who is ripe to have false charges placed against him - after all,
who would believe that he's innocent?
And a man is innocent until proven guilty. No matter how much
he's screwed up before.
However, I don't believe that they are false. Phillips is
probably not an alcoholic in the sense that he drinks every day and
has to have alcohol to function. In fact, he may go months without a
drink.
But there is a class of people out there who lose all
inhibitions when they drink, no matter how much or how little they
have and Phillips seems to be one of those people. Whenever he
drinks, he has trouble maintaining any kind of normal control.
When he's not drinking, he's probably a great guy. But when
he drinks, he loses all traces of those controls that keep most of us
in line. Of course, it has not been alleged that Phillips was even
drinking that night, but I'd say that the odds are very high that
Phillips was out on the town, tossing a few back while he contemplated
trying to pick up a date.
When I was in the Marine Corps, I had a staff sergeant who
worked for me briefly when I was assigned to the headquarters squadron
at Cherry Point. This staff sergeant was an outstanding Marine - most
of the time.
But when he drank - and he didn't drink very often - he
completely lost control and got into trouble. Of course, since he
didn't have to drink very often, he refused to believe he had a
problem.
As an example - one night, while out celebrating the fact that
he was about to get a commendation for outstanding work, this staff
sergeant made a verbal and physical pass at one of his subordinate's
wives - in front of the subordinate. And when I say "physical", I
don't mean that he tried to kiss her on the cheek - he basically
starting pawing her and trying to rip her clothes off in the middle of
the bar.
Needless to say, the staff sergeant did not get his
commendation. What he got was a less-than-honorable discharge.
I don't know if that turned his life around, but at least it
finally got his attention.
I believe that Lawrence Phillips is in the same situation.
Until he actually gets fired and really has to start from scratch, he
won't be able to really understand how much of a problem he has. This
incident should be the last straw.
Last fall, when the Dolphins signed Phillips, I was worried.
I said then that "he's a disaster waiting to happen". Well, it looks
like he's happened.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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