Running For His Life
I happened upon a documentary, “Running for His Life” while flipping through the movie section of our streaming network, about former NFL player and college phenom Lawrence Phillips. What garnered my attention was how the promo spoke about the rise and fall of so promising a career, then his recent death in prison. It took me a moment to recall the player, because his name didn’t register right away. So I felt compelled to see this film and get a sense of who he was and refresh my memory. Normally, I’m reasonably good at knowing who the outstanding college and NFL football players are each year through being a fan of the sport, watching games and sports media highlighting who the next great players are. Ever since I moved to Indianapolis, it’s hard not to know about up and coming players when the NFL Combine, the largest football talent pool in America, is in your backyard and has been since 1987. Yet it still didn’t hit me as to the player Lawrence Phillips was until I saw a glimpse of him perform on film; then the flood gates came crashing open.
It doesn’t matter what book you read, or what film you see, or even conversations with family or friends, you’ll never get the total picture of a person and their life unless you speak to them. Lawrence Phillips would be no different. If we could find a possible way to speak to the person he was, what would we know? What could he tell us? What would he tell us?
From all accounts on paper and on film, this was an elite athlete. Phillips was a running back with agility and speed, and the ability to make you miss, and the size to knock you down, or run you over. No matter what level of football, a player having those types of qualities are a coaches’ dream. For the University of Nebraska, early on, it was a “dream come true”. Like in any fairy tale, there’s always a caveat… the one thing that keeps us awake at night, and scares us in the morning. Why can’t life just let a good thing be? Well, it wouldn’t be life, now would it? Oh, I don’t want to blame everything on life, because life can be good. It’s all in how we treat and nurture it that makes the difference. For Lawrence Phillips, life is hard in the beginning, and doesn’t seem to let up too much along the way, except when it comes to football. Experts will tell you this kid had what it takes to be a great player. He showed you every time his feet hit the gridiron. During his freshmen and sophomore years at Nebraska, through much of his efforts, the University could boast two back to back National Championships. His play was so highly touted, that talk of the Heisman Trophy, one of the most prestigious awards in college sports, was said to be in his grasp. No one seemed to out gain him or outperform him. He was a natural.
Being able to adapt is everything when life changes in front of you. How we handle these changes are key. From the outside looking in, Phillips wasn’t equipped to handle the changes. As a result, his life changed drastically and he wasn’t able to fully recover, taking him down a dark path, which eventually landed him in prison. Ask his friends and they’ll tell you, they didn’t ever see that side of him. He was a quiet man who loved football and played it well. As the saying goes “you can’t judge a book by its cover”. Phillips’ downfall came after a game. His emotional state changed to jealousy causing him to physically abuse a young woman that he was asked by his coaches not to see. In a rage, after finding her at a teammate’s apartment, took her by the hair and drug her down the stairs, leaving her at the bottom. He also damaged some mailboxes before leaving. That was enough to start his life spiraling down a road he was unable to control.
The film gives you a good sense of the blessings he obtained and the demons he ultimately had to face. It’s a tragic story all too familiar in the black community. From being poor and abused as a child, to overcoming the odds and making it out of foster care to becoming famous, just to have that fame and fortune taken away. Yes, we all know this story oh too well.
Let me tell you something about this documentary. Not once did I get bored or tired watching it. The subject matter, along with the sports references shouldn’t detour you from seeing this well thought out movie. Everyone watching this film should come away with an enriched sense of the man, and what he had to endure leading up to his death.
When I go to watch a movie, I go hoping I’ll encounter something new, exciting, or even worth knowing. Many times I have no agenda at all. Seeing this film, I had no expectations at all. What I got was so much more. It made me stop and take a look at myself. It helps me see that one’s world can change in an instant. People play a very important role in how you’re raised, how you live, how you behave and how you handle your feelings. There are so many lessons to be learned from this film and not all of them are good.
Give this movie a chance. If you don’t come away feeling saddened by this man’s story, then you may just need to see it again.
Gregory B. Morgan
