Imprisoned ex-NFL running back Lawrence Phillips found dead

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Lawrence Phillips, a star running back at Nebraska and first-round NFL draft pick whose pro career quickly unraveled amid disciplinary problems, was found unresponsive in his California prison cell on Wednesday, and officials said they suspect suicide.

Guards at Kern Valley State Prison found Phillips, 40, and he was taken to an outside hospital where he died about 1:30 a.m., Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.

Phillips went to prison in 2008 on a sentence of more than 31 years after he was convicted of twice choking his girlfriend in 2005 in San Diego and of driving his car into three teens later that year after a pickup football…