Former NFL player Lawrence Phillips was found dead in his prison cell at Kern Valley State Prison on Wednesday, according to USA Today Sports. Phillips was just 40 years old.
Phillips was serving a 32-year term there for assault on a former girlfriend, false imprisonment, making a criminal threat and auto theft. He was also facing charges and potentially the death penalty in connection with the alleged murder of his former cellmate at Kern.
Per USA Today Sports, Phillips' death is being investigated as a suspected suicide.
Phillips starred collegiately at Nebraska and was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the first-round of the 1996 NFL Draft. But his time with the Cornhuskers was marred by charges of assault and vandalism.
Phillips ultimately moved past the issues in Lincoln and wound up with Dick Vermeil's Rams. Unfortunately, the behavioral problems that hounded Phillips in college dogged him in the pros as well. Phillips would never post more than 677 yards rushing in a season during an NFL career that lasted parts of just four seasons.
