“When Lawrence got out in the yard, he proned out — he laid down on the ground to signal to the guards that he wasn’t fighting. But the Crip guys took offense. They thought Lawrence should have been fighting.” In Bleacher Report, Lars Anderson provides an interesting look at final, fateful days of former NFL runningback Lawrence Phillips.

+ “He was willing to trade a city he knew for one he didn’t, to give up his bankable celebrity in the States for a chance at a different life, and to cash in on his reputation by cozying up to the strangest allies he could find. In the process, he very nearly brought an end to the Negro leagues for good. What’s stunning even now is Paige’s willingness to risk so much. At 30, married and in his sporting prime, he decided to leave behind the world that made him.” The Atavist on Satchel Paige: How the best pitcher in the American Negro leagues played for the cruelest dictator in the Caribbean.