Bad Boy Book On NFL Players 1998

This review is from: Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL (Hardcover)

I gave this book to a friend years ago and just surprisingly came across a used copy. Flipping through its pages made me question why I gave it away in the first place. The things the athletes depicted in this book do makes the entire baseball steroid scandal look like grade school kids telling on one another.

The writing is done in an exciting, can't wait to read more, style, while the subject matter is pure bad boy COPS stuff. Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Think not? I just re-read section 16 (The Convict) about the rise then fast downfall of Rams star defensive back Darryl Henley (Inmate#01915-112, Marion, Illinois Federal Prison). Let me summarize here:

Henley and girlfriend Tracy Ann Donaho, Rams Cheerleader, flight arrives at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.

FBI agents pull Donaho out of line for questioning

Donaho taken to jail for a suitcase found with her name on it and twelve kilos of cocaine stashed inside

A day later Donaho tells agents that suitcase is Henley's and he'd arranged for her to carry it without knowing its contents

Henley eventually indicted as the kingpin in a national cocaine trafficking ring that includes his parents and other family members.

Henley sent to a federal detention facility in Los Angeles. Henley released on $1 million bond and continues playing football. He then plays another season with court ordered officer accompanying him on road trips. Henley pays the bill for officer. Trial scheduled for following summer.

- during this time (2 seasons) Henley still major part of Rams team, playing like a pro bowl worthy defensive back (what focus.) He would voluntarily take a leave of absence as not to be a distraction to the team. Rams would go 4-12 on the season.

Henley found guilty of conspiring to deliver narcotics "drug traffiking"

Now The Twist: Excerpt

Then came a twist so bizarre even the hardened cynics were left scratching their heads. According to prosecutors, while in the federal jail, Henley befriended a guard who provided Henley with a cellular phone. Using that phone, Henley arranged for a $1 million heroin shipment to be sent to Detroit and for cocaine to be moved around Southern California. With the profit he earned from those transactions, Henley offered to pay for the murder of Donaho (the ex-girlfriend cheerleader) and U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor, who had presided in the case and would be determining his sentence.

Bad Boys Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do, Whatcha Gonna Do when they Come For You!

Turns out the inmate was a fink, a jailhouse informant and the voice on the other end of Henley's cell phone when he ordered the judge's murder belonged to a federal undercover agent with all conversations being recorded.

"In one day, March 10, 1997, Henley appeared in back-to-back hearings where federal judges ordered him to spend the next forty-one years of his life in prison."

I know its not good karma to feast on another's misfortune, but I'm sure excited about seeing this book on my shelf again. Gotta go, the story of Lawrence Phillips just caught my eye. Whatcha gonna do.

Years after this book was published, December 18, 2009 to be exact, Lawrence Phillips was sentenced to more than 31 years in prison for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens.