Domestic Violence Comes Out of Closet : Discipline: Once an issue that was hushed up when athletes were involved, now it’s front-page news.

Marlene Sanchez, an L.A. County deputy district attorney, was surprised Monday morning when she heard that Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips was dismissed by the nation’s No. 2-ranked college football team.

Her experience with football players and domestic violence had a different outcome in the 1970s. Back then, a college friend of Sanchez’s allegedly was raped by a football player at a local university.

Sanchez recalled that school officials and police discouraged her friend from filing charges. She complied, and the player went unpunished.

“She had to drop out of school and was emotionally scarred for years,” said Sanchez, assistant director in the family violence division.

In contrast, Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne took swift action against Phillips after the former Baldwin Park High star was arrested for striking his former girlfriend early Sunday.

“When I heard that on the radio, I said, ‘Wow!’ ” Sanchez said. “That surely [wouldn’t have been] the case a couple years ago.”

Many on the front lines of domestic violence issues said Monday that Osborne’s action illustrates shifting attitudes that have been building since the double murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman last summer.

“[It] is really amazing, considering a short while ago it was considered a minor infraction,” Sanchez said. “Darryl Strawberry [now with the New York Yankees] had a whole series of domestic violence with his wife, and nothing became of those cases.”

But as a result of the frenzied publicity surrounding the O.J. Simpson trial, domestic violence has become the issue du jour .

Many men, particularly famous athletes, are being held accountable for behavior that was previously brushed aside. That much is evident in media coverage.

When Simpson was arrested on New Year’s Day in 1989 for allegedly beating his wife, The Times did not report the incident. When he pleaded no contest five months later, a small brief appeared on Page 2 of the Metro Section.

Warren Moon, once one of Houston’s most beloved athletes, made front-page news in Texas and Minnesota this year after a domestic dispute with his wife, Felicia, became public. Their son, Jeffrey, 7, called 911 to report his father’s alleged assault.

Moon, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, felt compelled to issue a public apology on television.

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson recently returned to the ring after serving three years in prison for raping a 19-year-old beauty contestant in Indiana. His return was greeted with heated media debate about his actions then and now.

In the last three years, other well-known athletes and sports figures accused of domestic violence include Dante Bichette, Barry Bonds, John Daly, Scottie Pippen, Jose Canseco, Bobby Cox, Michael Cooper, Olden Polynice, Robert Parrish and Otis Wilson. Many faced intense media scrutiny.

Still, of the three million domestic violence cases reported in the United States last year, only 120 involved athletes on all levels, said Richard Lapchick, director of the Center on the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. He argues athletes are not necessarily more prone to domestic violence than others.

Phillips, who was considered a strong Heisman Trophy candidate this season, simply was the latest case.

A day after he scored four touchdowns and rushed for 206 yards in the Cornhuskers’ victory over Michigan State, Phillips was dismissed from the team. Although Osborne indicated Monday that his action might not be irrevocable, he was applauded for taking a stand.

“It’s the most dramatic action taken by a coach in my lifetime,” Lapchick said. “[Osborne] has taken a symbolic stand [that has] real meaning.”

Rita Smith, coordinator of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Denver, said Osborne’s response helps send a strong message to men.

“Professional sports needs to take a very definitive stand against violence like [it] has against drugs,” Smith said.

Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said it no longer is enough to simply teach the X’s and O’s of football. He said it is equally important to monitor the players’ off-the-field actions.

Sometimes that can result in difficult decisions. Some coaches say they do not want to prematurely punish players. Still, they often must decide whether an arrest deserves a suspension.

Larry Smith, Missouri’s coach, faced such a situation when he was coaching at USC three years ago. Three incoming freshman, including future star Willie McGinest, were charged with assaulting a graduate student who was in a campus dormitory during a summer bridge program.

Instead of taking action, Smith waited for the outcome of a criminal trial. The players were found not guilty by a jury.

But in most cases, Smith now will suspend players indefinitely if arrested.

“We’re not saying you’re innocent or guilty. . . . That’s just our policy,” Smith said. “Football coaches don’t want to be judges, but sometimes you have to be.”

Dan McCarney, Iowa State’s new football coach, said every infraction, no matter how small, must be addressed. But his presence in Ames was fraught with controversy when it was revealed that he beat his estranged wife for eight years while a Wisconsin assistant.