Lawrence Taylor

At 65 years old, Lawrence Taylor has this physical status:

Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959) was nicknamed "L.T." by the narrator. "I am an American former football player."

Taylor spent his entire career with the New York Giants (1981–1993) in the National Football League (NFL).

Taylor was named as the second overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by former players, coaches, media representatives, and news outlets such as the NFL Network and Sporting News, making him one of the best defensive players in American football history.

Despite the fact that controversies surrounding Taylor's employment choice sparked, the two sides quickly settled the issue.

Since his rookie year, Taylor has received numerous trophies.

Taylor is the first and only NFL player to win the AP Defensive Player of the Year award in his rookie season.

Drug and lifestyle problems

During his professional rookie season (1981–1982), Taylor began using illegal drugs. He would pass the NFL's drug testing, but he'd still obtain his teammates' urine to submit as his own urine samples.

As his heroin use increased, he'd spend up to thousands of dollars a day on "coke and women." Linda, his first wife, was once required to pick him up from a crack house. He was once arrested at a team meeting even though some "ladies" were trying to get some new gear out of the night, but "just didn't happen to have the key."

He finally tested positive for cocaine in 1987 and confessed to using it. He failed his second drug test in 1988, and the NFL banned him for 30 days. With that, he stopped taking drugs until his 1993 departure, as a result of his third failed drug test would have ended his career. However, he would later recall that "I saw blow as the only bright spot in my future" in retirement.

He went through heroin therapy twice in 1995. He was arrested twice by undercover police officers for attempting to purchase cocaine in the previous three years. Meanwhile, he was primarily concerned with opioid users, and his house had white sheets over its windows. "I had gotten really bad." Taylor would later explain, "my house was almost like a crack house."

Post-NFL life

Taylor formed All-Pro Products in Taylor's last year in the NFL. During the first month, the corporation went public at $5 a share and tripled in value. The stock price hit $16.50 per share, down from the previous record of over $10 million. However, the company halted production shortly thereafter, and Taylor, who never sold his shares, lost several hundred thousand dollars. Several members of Hanover Sterling & Company, who had only sold the company's shares, defrauded him, effectively making it worthless. The Securities and Exchange Commission found that two traders had manipulated the stock price, which soared as the company was losing more than $900,000. Taylor has also had financial difficulties; in 1997, he confessed to filing a false tax return, and in 2000, he was sentenced to three months of house arrest, five years of probation, and 500 hours of community service for tax evasion."

Taylor worked in several regular television jobs before his career ended. He started working as a football analyst for now defunct TNT Sunday Night Football. Taylor also appeared as a wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation, defeating Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania XI. On the FX channel, he appeared on an amateur combat show called Toughman. At halftime of a game against the Cowboys on September 4, 1995, the Giants retired Phil Simms' jersey (Taylor's number was withheld the year before). Simms commemorated the occasion by granting Taylor an impromptu ceremonial ticket. "All of a sudden it hit me; national television, he's got dress shoes and a sports jacket on, and he's going to run down the field, and I'm going to give him a pass." Simms recalled, "I'm going to throw Lawrence in a really tough situation; on national television, he's got dress shoes and a sports jacket; and I'm going to throw him a pass." Taylor was ordered to run a long line, but the passer was thrown by 30–40 yards. Taylor later said that the situation made him more anxious than any other play of his career: "I'm saying to myself," says the author. "I'm going to run my black ass all the way back to Upper Saddle River because there isn't a way I'm going to remain in that stadium." Taylor made it through, but the capacity crowd in attendance applauded in applause.

Taylor went on to pursue acting after appearing in Any Given Sunday, where he played a character much like himself. In the HBO series The Sopranos and the film The Waterboy, he appeared as himself. He appeared in the 2000 version of Shaft. B.J. Taylor portrayed the steroid-riddled, possibly insane former football player. Smith appears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, a video game. The actor ridiculed his feared, drug-fuelled public image. He also contributed to Blitz: The League and its sequel, which were partially based on his life in the NFL. He appeared in Eric Roberts and Stacy Keach's 2000 Christian film Mercy Streets, as well as Jean-Claude Van Damme's 2003 prison film In Hell.

When Taylor became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999, there were fears that his hard-partying lifestyle and heroin use would damage his chances of induction. These fears turned out to be unfounded, though he was elected on the first ballot. Lawrence Taylor Jr., his son, made his introduction address at the induction ceremony. Taylor's ex-wife, three children, and his parents were all present at his induction address, and Taylor thanked them "thank you for working with me for all those years." "[h]e possibly cared more about me as a person than he ought to have," former Giants owner Wellington Mara praised for his help.

LT: Over the Edge, Taylor's autobiography, was released in 2004. Taylor often discussed his football years, which he loved with reckless abandon, and the drug-abusing phases of his life as the "L.T." He went through phases of his life. "L.T." He said. As an adrenaline junkie who lived life on a thrill ride, I confessed. "L. T. died a long time ago, and I don't miss him at all" Taylor said in 2003, "only Lawrence Taylor" remains.

Taylor re-emerged in the public eye in July 2006 after being on the front cover of a Sports Illustrated issue dedicated to former athletes and sport stars. Taylor credited his golfing hobby with helping him get out of his old hard-partying ways and heroin-filled lifestyle. He co-founded eXfuze, a West Palm Beach, Florida, internet marketing firm. He was a spokesperson for Seven+, the company's flagship multi-botanical drink made by the company, alongside former NFL stars Eric Dickerson and Seth Joyner. Brandon's son played with the Purdue Boilermakers in a national letter. Taylor appeared on Dancing with the Stars' 8th season, colliding with Edyta liwiska. According to the story, he was ruled out in the seventh week on April 21, 2009.

Taylor began having problems with his personal life in 2009. He was arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on November 8, after colliding with another vehicle with his Cadillac Escalade. He had already committed the same offence in 1996 when he totaled his Lexus in a one-car accident and left the scene, saying he did not think the legislation mandated the reporting of a single driver crash. He was released on a $500 bond and the other driver sacked him later, suing him for $15,000.

Taylor was arrested in May 2010 for raping a 16-year-old child at a Holiday Inn located in Montebello, New York. He was charged with third-degree felony rape for reportedly engaging in sexual encounter with someone under the age of 17. He was also charged with third-degree patronization for reportedly paying the underage girl $300 to have sex with him. When Taylor pleaded guilty on March 22, 2011, he was sentenced to six years of probation as part of a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and patronizing a prostitute. He also registered as a low-risk, level-one sex criminal. A judge denied the accused's assertion that Taylor assaulted her on October 26, 2012.

Taylor lives in Pembroke Pines, Florida, as of 2016. Taylor's wife was arrested in Florida on June 9, 2016, after she threw "an unknown object" and struck Taylor in the back of the head.

Taylor won the Vince Lombardi mini statue in May 2017 after winning the Super Bowl XXV victory. Following a September 2, 2016 accident that resulted in a suspended police car in Palm Beach, Florida, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol. Taylor's blood alcohol level was found to be 8.082 and 08.084, above the Florida legal maximum of.080.

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Early life & career

Lawrence Taylor was the first of three sons born in Williamsburg, Virginia, to Clarence and Iris Taylor. His father worked as a dispatcher at the Newport News shipyards, while his mother was a schoolteacher. Taylor, who was referred to as Lonnie by his family, was a mischievous youth. "[h]e was a difficult child," his mother said. Lonnie... will just do it, and if you wanted to do something, he'd tell you a big tale." Taylor concentrated on baseball as a youth, playing catcher and catcher as a youth, but only at the age of fifteen. He did not play organized high school football until the following year (eleventh grade), and there were no students recruited out of high school.

Taylor graduated from Lafayette High School in 1977 and wore No. 26 at Chapel Hill, where he was a team captain. 98. Taylor, who was originally recruited as a defensive lineman, then moved to linebacker during the 1979 season. In his last year (1980), he had 16 firings and set several defensive records. In 1980, he was named as the consensus first-team All-American and the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. Although the coaching staff marveled at his ferocious, impulsive style of play, the coaching staff marveled at his inquisitive, irresponsible style of play. "He'd be up six to seven feet in the air to block a punt and land on the back of his neck as a freshman on special teams," North Carolina assistant coach Bobby Cale said. "He was irresponsible, not reckless." Taylor's jersey was later retired by UNC.

NFL career

Taylor was drafted by the NFL's New York Giants in the first round as the 2nd overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft. In a poll of NFL General Managers (GMs) taken before the draft 26, the league's 28 general managers (GMs) said Taylor would have been the first picker. Bum Phillips, who had just been hired as a coach and general manager by the New Orleans Saints, was one of the two GMs who said they did not include Taylor. The Saints were also the team with the first pick in the draft, as fate would have it for Taylor. Before the draft, Giants GM George Young predicted that he would be better than NFL legends like Dick Butkus: "Taylor is the best college linebacker I've ever seen." Well, Dick Butkus did play. Taylor is the subject of no doubt in my mind. He's bigger and stronger than Butkus was. He's wretched on the battlefield.

Phillips fulfilled his pledge not to draft Taylor and the Saints instead selected Heisman Trophy-winning halfback George Rogers with the first pick, leaving the Giants with the tough decision of whether or not to draft Taylor. The Giants selected him in honor of the crowd's approval at the draft (which was held in New York City). Taylor, who had hoped to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, was dissatisfied with his visit to Giants Stadium after the draft. On the other hand, he seemed excited about the prospect of playing in the city. Taylor shifted his position after being drafted after Harry Carson made a point to reach out to him, and Taylor said he and some players and coaches "got it straightened out." One of the reasons for the Giants' decision in choosing Taylor was his reputation. "He was the cleanest player in the draft." I mean there was no rap on him," head coach Ray Perkins said. "A linebacker, a mature young man, free of injuries, has a great chance as a linebacker." Taylor wore number 56 because he was a fan of Cowboys linebacker Thomas Henderson. Taylor will continue to play for as long as possible, while Rogers, who was successful in his own right with several 1,000-yard rush seasons and two Pro Bowl picks, was forced to leave following the Washington Redskins' 1987 season.

From the start of training camp, Taylor's potential was evident. The latest phenom's training compound was the subject of famine. Taylor's coworkers began to call him Superman and joked that his locker should be replaced with a phone booth. "On the pass rush, he's an animal," team quarterback Phil Simms said. He's either going to run around you or over you. With his quickness, he's got full speed after two steps." In the Giants' 23–7 victory over the Chicago Bears, Taylor made his NFL debut on August 8, 1981, scoring two sacks. Taylor was the subject of a slew of news around the league early this season. Terry Bradshaw, a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers, recalled, "[h]e dang-near killed me, I just kept asking, 'Who is this guy?' he said in an exhibition game." He came from my blind side and just tore my ribs to pieces.

Taylor had what was described as a "love-hate relationship" with Bill Parcells, the team's defensive coordinator when he was first drafted, and would later become their head coach. Parcells rode heavily in the hopes of propelling them to greater success. Taylor did not understand this strategy, and Parcells told Parcells, "I've had enough." You either cut me or trade me, but get the fuck off my back.' Parcells continued to Taylor, but later told some veterans, "I like that LT."

Taylor made his NFL debut in 1981, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24–10. Taylor played a nondescript game despite incurring a penalty for a late blow on Eagles running back Perry Harrington. Taylor rushed and sacked the passer during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals later this season, just as he was supposed to be suspended from service. Taylor replied, "Well, we better put it in on Monday," when Parcells told him that this wasn't what he was supposed to do on the play and that what he did was not in the playbook. In 1981, he had 9.5 sacks, and his rookie season was regarded as one of the best in football history. He was voted as the year's Best Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 1981, making him the youngest rookie to win an Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021. Taylor's arrival in 1980 helped the Giants' defense cut their points allowed from 425 points to 257 in 1981. They finished the season 9–7, up five games from the previous season, and then advanced to the NFL divisional playoffs, where they defeated 38–24 to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers. In part, San Francisco's victory was due in part to Bill Walsh, the 49ers' tactic, who was able to stifle Taylor. Walsh sent guard John Ayers, the team's top blocker, to tackle Taylor, but the team's best blocker, John Ayers, was not as strong as normal, and he did not do well as expected. Taylor's on-field success gave him a reputation for recklessness off the track; after nearly being killed when his speeding resulted in a car accident, Young told the team's coach that he would be surprised if the linebacker lived past the age of 30, and the Giants insured Taylor's life for $2 million.

One of Taylor's career's most memorable performances came during the 1982 NFL season, which was reduced to nine regular season games due to a player strike. The teams were tied 6-6 early in the fourth quarter as the Lions drove deep into New York territory. Gary Danielson, the Lions' quarterback, came back to pass and threw the ball out to his left toward the sidelines. Taylor ran in front of the intended receiver, intercepted the pass, and returned the ball 97 yards for a touchdown. This was an excellent example of Taylor's rare combination of power with speed, even for a linebacker. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year.

Perkins became the head coach of the University of Alabama in 1982, and the Giants hired Parcells to replace him. This change was especially important to the Giants and Taylor in the coming years. Taylor played in a training camp holdout that lasted three weeks and ended when he returned to the team under his old deal with three games remaining in the preseason.

Despite Taylor's nine firings and joining the All-Pro team for the third season in 1983, the Giants failed. Fans and the media blasted the team's decision to go 3–12-1, and Parcells received a lot of flak from fans and the media. When Carson was hurt, Taylor was forced to play inside linebacker for a portion of the season, giving him less pass rush opportunities. Despite this change, Taylor spent 1983 on the 1983 All-Pro Team, both outside linebacker and inside linebacker, becoming the first first-team All-Pro in NFL history to have two positions in the same year. Taylor started acting out after being late for meetings and not participating in conditioning drills in practice, frustrated by the loss. Taylor was involved in a trade for his position between the Giants and the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League earlier this season. Taylor was given a $1 million interest-free 25-year loan by GM founder Donald Trump on December 14, 1983, with the stipulation that he first played in the USFL in 1988. Taylor regretted the call and resisted less than a month later. His agent was able to discuss his situation personally with Trump and later the Giants, which culminated in Taylor's transfer to the Giants. Taylor's 6-year, $6.55 million contract included a $1 million interest-free loan. The key findings of these talks were threefold: 1) Taylor returned the $1 million to Trump, 2) the Giants paid Trump $750,000 over the next five seasons, and 3) the Giants gave Taylor a new six-year, $6.2 million contract.

Taylor had his fourth All-Pro season in 1984, when the Giants' record climbed to 9-7. In a September game, he got off to a whizzing start, with four sacks in a game. The Giants defeated the Los Angeles Rams 16-13, but the eventual champion 49ers lost 21–10.

Following their record-breaking 1984 campaign and a 5–0 pre-season record, the Giants went into the 1985 season with a sense of hope. Taylor led the NFL in sacks with 68, leading to the Giants' deposition of Taylor. Taylor had 13. During this season, one of his career's most memorable performances came during this season. Taylor's dismissal of Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann's right leg during a Monday Night Football game against the Redskins resulted in a compound fracture of Theismann's right leg. A terrified Taylor screamed for paramedics to attend to Theismann after his dismissal. Despite the fact that the firing halted Theismann's career, Theismann has never held Taylor accountable for the injuries. Taylor claims he has never seen a video of the play and never intends to see one. The Giants won the first round of the playoffs 17–3, but lost to the eventual champion Chicago Bears in the second round 21–0.

Taylor had one of the most successful seasons for a defensive player in the league's history in 1986. He received a league-leading 20.5 sacks and became one of only two defensive players to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award and the only defensive player to be unanimously selected for MVP. For the third time, he was also named Defensive Player of the Year. The Giants finished the season 14-2 and outscored San Francisco and Washington by a combined score of 66-33. Taylor appeared on Sports Illustrated alone this week, with the magazine notifying the Denver Broncos about him. The Giants defeated Denver 39-20 after starting a slow start in Super Bowl XXI. In the first half, Taylor made a crucial touchdown stopping tackle on a goal line play, stopping Broncos quarterback John Elway as he sprinted out on a roll out.

Taylor got off to a rocky start to his career with the Super Bowl victory. He had been named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1981, 1982, 1986), and his team won the league's first defensive player of the year (1981, 1982, 1986). Taylor was more let down than elated after the win, however, rather than elated.

Taylor said:

As one of the youngest teams in the league, the Giants seemed to have a promising future coming off their 1986 championship season. However, they struggled in the coming season, falling to 6-9 in the 1987 season, which was strike-shortened. After early team failures, Taylor caused mayhem in the locker room when he broke the picket line. "The Giants are losing," he explained his decision. "I'm losing $60,000 a week." With 12 in 12 games played, he ended the season as the team's leader in sacks, but he missed a game due to a hamstring injury, snapping his undefeated streak at 106.

In 1988, the Giants appeared to return to their championship ways, but the season was marred by controversies surrounding Taylor. He tested positive for cocaine and was banned from the league for thirty days as it was his second breach of the NFL's substance abuse policy. The first result in 1987 had been kept private, and was not known to the public at the time. During this time, he was held off the media and checked himself into rehab in early September. Fans and team executives were becoming concerned about Taylor's over-the-edge lifestyle. This was particularly true considering that many gifted actors such as Hollywood Henderson and others with heroin addictions ended their careers. In the games Taylor skipped, the Giants went 2–2 for the Giants. Taylor was back to his best self when he led the team in sackings for the second time when the team lost 15.5 in 12 games played. The season also featured some of Taylor's most memorable moments. Taylor made seven tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles in a pivotal late-season game against the New Orleans Saints. Taylor's presence in the lineup was crucial because the Giants' offense was having trouble mounting drives, and possession was dominant in times of possession. As he was being attended to by Giants workers, television cameras were often cut to the sidelines to show him in extreme physical distress. Taylor had already earned a reputation for playing through pain, and the team's conditioning staff had to hide his helmet to keep him from returning to the field after he was injured. Taylor's shoulder was so strained he had to wear a harness to hold it in place. The Giants won by 13-12, and Parcells later praised Taylor's work as "[t]he best game I ever saw." However, the Giants barely escaped the playoffs in 1988 at 10–6 by losing tie-breakers with the Eagles in their division and the Rams for the Wild card.

Taylor fired 15 people in 1989. He was forced to play the second half of many games due to a 34–24 loss to the 49ers in week 12. Despite his off-the-field injuries, Taylor remained popular among his coworkers and was named defensive co-captain alongside Carl Banks. Both players filled in the defensive captain's position after retired Harry Carson's retirement. Carson, Reasons, Banks, and Taylor, a nine-time Pro Bowler, whose team's defense nicknamed the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" in the 1980s, were among the team's linebacker corps's who led the team's defense called the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew." The Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Giants 12–4, then advanced to the playoffs. Despite Taylor's two dismissals and one forced fumble, the Rams defeated the Giants 19-13 in the first round of an exciting, down-to-wire game.

Taylor dropped out of training camp before the 1990 season, claiming a new deal with a salary of $2 million per year. With neither party bouncing, negotiations dragged into September, and Taylor received fines at the rate of $2,500 per day. Just four days before the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, he signed a three-year $5 million contract, making him the highest paid defensive player in the league). Despite being out of preparation camp and the preseason, Taylor continued to see three sacks and a coerced fumble against the Eagles. He had 10.5 sacks and his 10th Pro Bowl in as many years, but it was not the first time in Taylor's career that he was not selected First-Team All-Pro. The Giants started out 0–0 and ended with a 13–3 record. The Giants defeated the Bears 31-33 in the playoffs and met the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. After Taylor defeated two consecutive blocks by 49ers tight end Brent Jones and fullback Tom Rathman to get into the 49ers offensive backfield to set up Matt Bahr's game-winning field goal, the Giants won 15-13. They played the Buffalo Bills and won one of the most exciting Super Bowls in history, 20-19, after Buffalo's Scott Norwood missed a potential game-winning field goal in the closing seconds of the game.

Parcells, with whom Taylor had been very close during the 1990 season, was taken over by Ray Handley, and the team was taken over by Ray Handley. Taylor's production dropped sharply in 1991. It was his first season in his career in which he did not make the Pro Bowl squad, breaking a then record by doing it in his first ten years in the league. Taylor's defense, although still respectable, was no longer one of the top units in the league, with seven sacks in 14 games.

Taylor recovered in the early stages of what many believed to be his last season in 1992. Taylor was on target for ten sacks in nearly nine games, but the Giants were 5-4. However, a ruptured Achilles tendon sustained the injury in a game against Green Bay on November 8, 1992, when the team lost 1–6. Taylor had played only four games due to injury in his 12-year career before the injury. Taylor was noncommittal about his future during the 1992 season and the ensuing offseason, first hinting at a long-term deal.

Taylor was enticed by the opportunity to work with a new coach (Dan Reeves), but he was determined not to leave his career due to an injury. In 1993, the Giants had a resurgent season. They finished 11-5, and they qualified for the top NFC playoff seed. Taylor had 6 sacks, and the Giants' defense had the most points allowed in the NFL. In the first round of the playoffs, they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 17-10. The Giants were defeated 44–3 by the San Francisco 49ers last week, in what would be Taylor's last game. As the game came to an end, television cameras caught Taylor, who was screaming. "I think it's time for me to retire," he said at the post-game press conference. I've done everything I could do. I've been to Super Bowls. I've been to the playoffs. I've done stuff that others haven't been able to do in this game before. After 13 years, it's time for me to go."

Taylor had 1,089 tackles, 132.5 sacks (not counting the 9.5 sacks he earned as a rookie because sacks did not become a recognized statistic until 1982), nine interceptions, 134 return yards, two touchdowns, 33 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, and 34 fumble return yards, and 34 fumble return yards.

NFL career statistics

** Unofficial estimates (sacks did not become a formal statistic until 1982); on the other hand, Taylor's Pro Football Hall of Fame bio says it is accurate, which is believed to be accurate. Including the 9.5 Taylor who was unofficially counted as a rookie, his total number is 142.

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