Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor, born on February 4, 1959, in Williamsburg, Virginia, is a former professional American football player widely regarded as one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history. Taylor had a challenging early life, marked by difficult behavior and a late start in football, playing only his junior and senior years in high school. He attended the University of North Carolina, where he evolved into a standout defensive player, earning accolades and leading his team to significant victories.
Taylor was drafted by the New York Giants as the second overall pick in 1981 and quickly established himself as a dominant force in the league. He won multiple awards, including the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1986, a rarity for defensive players, and helped the Giants secure two Super Bowl titles in 1986 and 1990. Despite his on-field success, Taylor's career was marred by personal struggles, including battles with substance abuse and legal issues, which led to several arrests.
After retiring from football, he remained in the public eye as a commentator and actor but continued to face challenges related to his past behavior. Despite these issues, Taylor's impact on the game is undeniable, as he revolutionized defensive play and is celebrated as a member of the NFL's All-Time Teams and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Lawrence Taylor
Football Player
- Born: February 4, 1959
- Birthplace: Williamsburg, Virginia
Football player
Taylor was a linebacker whose speed, power, and fearsome intensity revolutionized the position and forced opposing teams to change their game plans. He is considered not only one of the best defensive players ever but also simply one of the best football players of all time. However, after the end of his playing days, his accomplishments threatened to be overshadowed by drug addiction and legal entanglements.
Area of achievement: Sports: football
Early Life
Lawrence Julius Taylor was born on February 4, 1959, in Williamsburg, Virginia, to Clarence, a dispatcher, and Iris Taylor, a schoolteacher. He was the middle of three boys. By all accounts, Taylor was a difficult child. As a youngster, baseball was one of the main outlets through which he channeled his relentless energy.
Taylor began playing football at age fifteen, a relatively late age to take up the sport. He played football only his junior and senior seasons at Lafayette High School, and because of his short career, he received little attention from recruiters. The University of North Carolina (UNC) coaches were willing to take a chance on Taylor and offered him a scholarship.
Taylor’s first season in Chapel Hill was uneventful as he played almost exclusively on special teams. The following year passed in a similar manner, as he was injured and finished with only eight tackles. Off the field, Taylor often engaged in fights and built a reputation for hard partying. However, he changed his behavior in the following seasons, recognizing that it was hurting his development as a football player.
In his junior year, Taylor was the standout defensive player on a team that finished 8–3–1 and beat the University of Michigan in the Gator Bowl. The next year was more impressive for both UNC and Taylor, as the team finished 11–1 and he accumulated 55 tackles and 16 sacks. Taylor was named a first team All-American and Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.
Life’s Work
Many in the National Football League (NFL) considered Taylor a future superstar, and in a poll of the twenty-eight general managers in the league, twenty-six said they would take him with the first overall pick. To the delight of the New York Giants and their fans, Taylor fell to them at number two.
Although Taylor irked some of the team’s veterans with his rich rookie contract, they soon took a liking to him as they witnessed his prowess on the field. With his speed, strength, and overall athletic ability, Taylor was nearly impossible to block or contain. The Giants thought so much of the rookie linebacker that they altered their defense to focus on Taylor and his skills. While he played an unexceptional first professional game, Taylor proved up to the challenge and finished the year with 133 tackles and 9.5 sacks, winning both the defensive rookie of the year and defensive player of the year awards. He went on to help lead the Giants to the play-offs with a 9–7 record.
Over the next few seasons, Taylor played brilliantly, again winning a defensive player of the year award and being named to the Pro Bowl, but the Giants as a team were unremarkable. He had become the most dominant defensive player in the league but still had yet to play in a Super Bowl. That changed in 1986 when the Giants steamrolled through the regular season, at one point winning twelve straight games, and then easily handled their playoff opponents. In the Super Bowl the Giants beat the Denver Broncos 39–20. For leading his team’s dominating defense, Taylor was named the NFL’s most valuable player (MVP), an award rarely given to defensive players. His dominance was such that Taylor forced coaches around the league to alter their pass-protection schemes and other strategies to account for his presence.
The next three seasons were forgettable for Taylor and the Giants. Injuries hampered his ability to play well, and he was suspended for four games in 1988 for testing positive for cocaine. When able, he still was a formidable opponent, but those times were sporadic. To start the 1990 season, Taylor came in healthy and in shape, and it showed, as he helped lead the team to a 13–3 record. After dispatching their two playoff opponents, the Giants returned to the Super Bowl, where they eked out a 20–19 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Taylor played through the 1993 season, but his play declined steadily until his retirement. Yet after leaving football he remained in the limelight. He worked as a football commentator and actor, appearing in films such as Any Given Sunday (1999) and Shaft (2000). Unfortunately, he also gained considerable attention for erratic and illegal behavior and faced criminal charges on multiple accounts. He was arrested several times for drug offenses and acknowledged a longtime drug addiction beginning early in his NFL career and broken by only occasional sober periods. Even after he was able to kick his cocaine addiction by focusing on golf and other activities Taylor continued to attract negative press attention. In 2009 he was charged with fleeing the scene of a car accident in his adopted home state of Florida. In 2010 he was arrested and charged with raping an underage prostitute; he pleaded guilty in 2011 to a charge of sexual misconduct and was sentenced to six years of probation in addition to being registered as a sex offender. After he was arrested for driving under the influence in the fall of 2016, he pleaded guilty to the charges in 2017.
Significance
At his peak, Taylor was the most dominating defensive football player in the league. He is widely regarded as the best linebacker ever. Although legal woes colored his legacy later in life, Taylor remains a player who revolutionized the game with his speed, strength, and unflagging desire to win. He was selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994 as well as the NFL's 100 All-Time Team in 2019 and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1999, his first year of eligibility.
Bibliography
Bamberger, Michael. "Another Nine?" Sports Illustrated 105, no.1 (July 3, 2006), 84-88. Print.
Greenberg, Steve, and Harry Carson. "Twenty Years Ago, You Couldn’t Have Told Me I’d Get to 50." The Sporting News 233, nos. 9/10 (April 13, 2009): 46-51. Print.
"Lawrence Taylor." NFL, 2021, www.nfl.com/players/lawrence-taylor/. Accessed 20 July 2021.
"Lawrence Taylor." Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Salamone, Dan. "Lawrence Taylor Named to NFL 100 All-Time Team." Giants.com, NFL, 1 Dec. 2019, www.giants.com/news/lawrence-taylor-nfl-100-all-time-team. Accessed 20 July 2021.
Taylor, Lawrence, and Steve Serby. LT: Over the Edge—Tackling Quarterbacks, Drugs, and a World Beyond Football. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. Print.