Lawrence Phillips – Nebraska
The story of Lawrence Phillips is unlike any other player on this list. Phillips’ disastrous NFL career is a trivial in comparison to his long list of run-ins with the law. Phillips was a problem child who couldn’t avoid trouble from day one. An electrifying runner while at the University of Nebraska, but his college career was mired in controversies that included accepting gifts from a sports agent to assaulting his girlfriend.
For some reason, that didn’t stop the St. Louis Rams from selecting him with the 6th-overall pick in the 1996 NFL draft. To make matters worse, the Rams traded away Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis to make room for Phillips.
Between 1997 and 1999, Phillips bounced between the Rams, Dolphins, and 49ers, with each team giving up on him because of his attitude and mounting legal incidents. Unfortunately, those issues were just the tip of the iceberg for Phillips and his legal troubles. Here were a few of the available players when the Rams selected Phillips at #6; Eddie George, Marvin Harrison and Ray Lewis.