Ex-NFL running back Lawrence Phillips found dead in prison

Police at California’s Kern Valley State Prison discovered Phillips unresponsive, and rushed him to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

A former USA professional football player whose career was cut short by disciplinary problems has been found dead inside his California prison cell.

Ex Rams running back Lawrence Phillips killed himself in a California prison, authorities say.

Phillips had been in a single-cell status after he was suspected of killing his cellmate.

Phillips was being prosecuted in Kern County on a first-degree murder charge for allegedly strangling 37-year-old Damion Soward.

He was suspended from the team the following year for beating up a girlfriend, but still drafted sixth overall by the St. Louis Rams in 1996. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins franchises.

In 2009 Phillips was sentenced to 31 years in prison for two incidents, driving his vehicle into three teenagers, and assaulting another woman.

He also played for the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes and the Calgary Stampeders early last decade, winning the league’s championship with the Alouettes in 2002.

Tom Osborne, who coached Phillips when he was at Nebraska, issued a statement to the Associated Press saying that his death was unexpected.

Investigators believe he took his own life.

Prison officials immediately identified Phillips as a suspect and the Kern County District Attorney’s office launched an investigation.

Editor’s Note: Phillips gained 1,453 yards on 424 carries in his career, scoring 14 touchdowns.

But his legal troubles continued when in 2005 he was arrested for violence against another girlfriend and using his auto to try and run down some people who irked him.