[3] However, during his senior season he forged a check and was sentenced to 18 months for four years at the penitentiary at Jackson, Michigan.

He was paroled after four months; he credits his time in prison with teaching a lot about life, but he gave up hope of being drafted into pro football.

[1] But the expansion Cincinnati Bengals and coach Paul Brown were willing to take a chance on Phillips.

Paul Brown called Phillips "a kid with an engaging personality who has it all in front of him.

But in 1969 he was switched to fullback and came on strong with 118 carries for 578 yards (a 4.9 average) and three touchdowns, including a career-long 83-yard run.

[1] During his off-seasons in Cincinnati, Phillips worked as a mortgage loan officer for then Central Trust Bank, and he worked for a company that printed weekly commodity charts and mailed them out to futures' brokers and traders.