Showtime to premiere Lawrence Phillips documentary on Dec. 16

The life and career of former Nebraska star running back Lawrence Phillips is the sort of sad, troubling story worth exploring in a documentary. Premium cable network Showtime and famed sports documentary producer Ross Greenburg will chronicle the circumstances and events that influenced Phillips’ frequent tendencies toward domestic violence in a film titled Running for His Life: The Lawrence Phillips Story.

Greenburg directed the documentary, which premieres on Showtime Saturday, Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. The film includes interviews with several of Phillips’ former coaches and teammates, including longtime Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, Dick Vermeil, Steve Young and Nick Saban. Many others who played with Phillips or knew him in his personal life, including one of the women he assaulted, also spoke to filmmakers.

Here is the trailer for Running for His Life:

As the trailer explains, Phillips was an enormously talented running back who was a star on Nebraska’s 1994 national championship team. But his athletic achievements were marred by several off-the-field incidents, most notably assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Osborne didn’t kick him off the team, believing that football would provide some structure. Phillips turned pro after his junior season and though he was viewed by many as the best player in the 1996 NFL Draft, he fell to the No. 6 overall selection because of concerns over his issues with domestic violence.

Phillips continued to get in trouble with the law and assault women while playing professional football, resulting in him bouncing among three NFL teams. His career ended with two seasons in the CFL. Once his playing days were finished, Phillips ended up in jail for assault after driving his car into three teenagers. Additionally, police wanted him on several domestic assault charges. He was convicted on yet another assault charge while in prison, resulting in a longer sentence. Phillips was later charged with first-degree murder for killing his cellmate. His troubled life came to a tragic end in January of this year when he committed suicide in his prison cell.

As someone says in the documentary’s trailer, the film attempts to explore the “why” of Phillips’ life, rather than the “how.” His time in a children’s group home, in particular, is pointed to as having a terrible, psychologically damaging effect on him. The continued pattern of violence in the man’s life is certainly compelling, albeit disturbing, material for a documentary.

Running for His Life: The Lawrence Phillips Story premieres on Showtime Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. ET.