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Aug. 23, 2005 Christian Peters, Lawrence Phillips, Josh Brown, Mark Vedral and Shevin Wiggins all attended and played football for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). But more telling is the fact that while students, all were engaged in criminal activity. It could be said that UNL is short for the University of Ne’er-do-wells and and Lunatics. Is this a case of "boys being boys?" A run of bad luck? Nope, it’s unbridled idiocy, part of what I call "The Husker curse. Here are a few of the details: Mark Vedral was suspended after being arraigned on a charge of first-degree sexual assault. Vedral was accused of having sex with a woman while she slept in his roommate's bed. Brown served 23 days in jail after fighting with his ex’s new boyfriend and allegedly assaulting her (at the time he had been drinking). Wiggins missed the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted him after being suspended from the team. His suspension occurred after he was accused of fondling a 14-year-old girl. The charges were later reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. However, Wiggins will best remembered for kicking the ball that led to the touchdown catch by teammate Matt Davison, that forced overtime in the Huskers’ "Miracle in Missouri" win. Frank Solich was named UNL football coach and had the misfortune of following Nebraska legend (and now U.S. Senator) Tom Osborne. Though Solich compiled a very respectable 58-19 record (.753 winning percentage) and his team went 9-3, he was fired—and many Nebraskans thought deservedly so. During his tenure he suspended six players for various offenses. Some fans saw UNL gridders as a cadre of glorified thugs who just happened to spend their Saturdays playing football. The University then erred by hiring ex-Oakland Raiders head coach Bill "My way or the highway" Callahan. As the former coach of the equally dysfunctional Raiders, he'd failed to survive a player mutiny. It was even rumored that team leaders had to restrain other players from going after him. Immediately after Callahan was named head coach at UNL, six players quit the team. Even 19893 Heisman Trophy winning running back Mike Rozier was not immune to the "Husker curse", as he was shot outside a nightclub in 1996. This under the guise of defending a friend who was being attacked. (He has since married and says he is quite happy away from football). But the undisputed King of the UNL fraternity of imbeciles has to be Lawrence Phillips, whose police blotter reads like Stephen King’s novel "The Stand". In 1995 he was suspended 2 games into what many thought would be a Heisman Trophy winning season. This happened after Phillips scaled the wall of a building and broke into his ex-girlfriend's apartment and assaulted her. He pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to one year's probation. While on probation he was arrested for drunken driving in California, which led to a 23-day jail sentence. In 1996 Phillips decided to forego his Senior season and was taken by the St. Louis Rams with the 6th pick in the NFL draft. But during a 19-month stint with the team he was arrested three more times. In October 1997 Phillips was charged with battery when a woman accused him of turning violent after she refused to dance with him. The victim said that Phillips told her, "I’ll break your jawbone and pull the weave out of your head." The victim suffered a chipped tooth, cut lip and claimed to have temporarily blacked out. He later entered a plea of no contest. In 1998 a woman named Rebecca Harvey filed a civil lawsuit against him claiming that she was sexually assaulted during a party at an Omaha hotel. The suit alleged that Phillips has shown "a continuous and outrageous pattern of gender-motivated violence." Phillips pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from that party. He was fined $50 and court costs. Considering his reputation, 1999 was a good year. All that happened was that he was released from the roster of the San Francisco 49ers for missing a practice. But in 2000 he was back to his old tricks. While in Montreal, Phillips was arrested after sexually assaulting his girlfriend. He was also charged with making threats and later failed to appear for his first hearing. In May of that year he was arrested on a charge of carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle, a misdemeanor. This after being released by the CFL's Calgary Stampeders for disrupting practice by arguing with coach Jim Barker. In 2002 Phillips became the first player chosen in the XFL’s inaugural and only draft. The Los Angeles Looters picked him and declared, "Obviously, someone with name recognition such as his will help fill seats. To boo or cheer, at least they will be paying at the door." League founder Vince (WWE) McMahon saw Phillips as a perfect fit, adding, "Lawrence comes pre-packaged with all the supporters and haters that you would normally get with a professional wrestler. The only question is if he will be able to keep from killing anybody on the field." Just over a week ago San Diego police have issued a warrant for Phillips’ arrest after he twice attacked his girlfriend—once choking her until she was unconsciousness. At the time he was also wanted on another domestic violence warrant out of Los Angeles. Police said Phillips told them that he would not surrender peacefully. And yesterday another warrant was issued when Phillips snapped in a Los Angeles Park after playing touch football with a group of teenagers. Witnesses say that Phillips jumped into his vehicle, drove across the grass at a high rate of speed and injured three of the teenagers he’d been playing with just moments earlier. Then he sped away. Because Phillips is known for keeping himself in superb conditionin, police consider him armed and dangerous. It is for that reason and the fact that Phillips is "a couple of chain links short of a first down" that I see this manhunt turning into a tragedy—more specifically, suicide by cop. The police will corner this madman and he will give them no other option but to gun him down. Meanwhile, the Nebraska curse will go on. I look for more ineptitude from the Husker coaching staff and more deviant behavior from its coddled cadre of criminal-athletes. By 2007, callahan will be ousted. ------------ About the author: Timothy Stelly is the 46-year old author of "Tempest In The Stone" and the soon to be released, "The Malice of Cain". His third novel, "Darker Than Blue" is under consideration for publication. Mr. Stelly currently resides in Pittsburg, California with his three youngest children Dante, Kimberly and Lawrence. Excerpts from The first two books and the first two chapters of his anthology, "Frankenigga--And Other Urban Tales" can be viewed at: stellbread0.tripod.com Email: stellbread@sbcglobal.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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