College
Taylor attended North Carolina and wore #98. Taylor set numerous defensive records there, some of which have since been broken (most notably by Julius Peppers and Marcus Jones). UNC would later retire Taylor's jersey.The NFL years
In 1981, Taylor was drafted by the NFL's New York Giants as the # 2 pick overall. He was named 1981's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press with 9.5 sacks. He produced double-digit sacks seasons consecutively from 1986 through 1990, with his career high of 20 1/2 sacks coming in 1986.Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Taylor was a dominating force at outside linebacker, and is widely acknowledged as one of the most feared players to ever step onto the football field. He was a key player in the Giant's defense, nicknamed "The Big Blue Wrecking Crew", that led New York to Super Bowl XXI and XXV victories. During that time Taylor and fellow linebackers including Carl Banks and hall of famer Harry Carson gave the Giants linebacking corps a reputation as one of the best in the NFL.
Taylor won many individual awards. Most significantly, in 1986 he became one of just four defensive players to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award. He won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award 3 times(1981, 1982, 1986) and was selected to play in 10 Pro Bowls.
By the time Taylor retired in 1993, he had amassed 1,088 tackles, 132.5 sacks (not counting the 9.5 sacks he recorded as a rookie because sacks did not become an official statistic until 1982), 9 interceptions, 134 return yards, 2 touchdowns, 33 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, and 34 fumble return yards.
Taylor was credited with changing the offensive style of pro football. Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs developed the two tight end offense to prevent Taylor from blitzing into the backfield unhindered. His skills at outside linebacker forced other coaches to retool their entire offensive schemes to manage his impact.
Drugs, extreme measures and injuries
He often played with pain, taking the field and performing despite injuries, such as torn shoulder ligaments, a detached pectoral muscle, a hairline fractured tibia and a broken bone in the foot. However, he is perhaps best known for a sack on Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann's during a 1985 ''Monday Night Football'' game that inadvertently resulted in a compound fracture of Theismann's right leg. The image of a distraught Lawrence Taylor screaming for paramedics is one of the sport's most heart-wrenching moments. Theismann never played again, and to his credit, he has never blamed Taylor for the injury. Taylor claims he has never seen the video clip of the play and says he never wants to.A ruptured Achilles tendon sidelined him in 1992 and after only one more year of play, Taylor retired in 1993.
In contrast to his success on the football field, Taylor's personal life has been marred by drug usage and controversy. Once asked what he could do that no outside linebacker could, his answer was, "Drink", but his problems ran much deeper than alcohol. After admitting to cocaine abuse in 1987, he was suspended from football for 30 days in 1988 after failing a drug test. He went through drug rehab twice in 1995, only to later be arrested twice over a three year span for attempting to buy cocaine (from undercover officers).
Ironically, Taylor's coach while a Giant was renowned disciplinarian Bill Parcells, who obviously got the most out of Taylor's on-the-field talent.
In a November 2003 interview with the TV news magazine ''60 Minutes'', Taylor claimed to Mike Wallace that he hired prostitutes to opponents' hotel rooms the night before a game in an attempt to tire them out and that, at his peak, he spent thousands of dollars a day on narcotics.
Despite his damaged personal reputation courtesy of his drug use and run-ins with the law, his talents on the football field were spotlighted as he joined the Class of 1999 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after being selected the very first year of his eligibility.
After the NFL, and the recovery
On January 22, 1995 Taylor sat front row at the WWF Royal Rumble at the invitation of WWF Superstar Diesel, whom he shared a friendship with. After the World Tag Team Championship match, which resulted in the team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid defeating Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow, Bam Bam noticed Taylor laughing at him. Feeling that his honor was violated, Bam Bam confronted Taylor and shoved him to the floor. Taylor decided to walk away and let the incident die out. Bam Bam, however, would not let up, and would take many on-air opportunities in the following weeks to insult Taylor, calling him a “punk” and challenging to fight him “anywhere, anyplace.” The WWF promoters took advantage of the situation and tried to get a match between the two at Wrestlemania XI, on April 2, 1995. Taylor finally gave in and told Bam Bam (in person) at a press conference that he was willing to fight him. During the road to Wrestlemania, the feud mostly consisted of the two taunting each other and trading insults. A week prior to their match, during a Wrestlemania promotional event in Times Square, the two had a violent confrontation. At Wrestlemania, Taylor ended up winning the match, fittingly with several shoulder tackles.Taylor has recently been pursuing a career in acting, appearing in the Oliver Stone movie, ''Any Given Sunday'' where he played a character very much like himself. He also appeared as himself in both the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' and the film ''The Waterboy''. He added his voice to the controversial video game, ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', playing the steroid-riddled, possibly insane former football player B.J. Smith (catchphrase: "to succeed at the game of football, as in life, you've got to eliminate everything in your path in a blind rage"), a character that pokes fun at his fearsome, drug-fueled public image. He also added his voice to the video game ''Blitz: The League'', which was based on his life.
In recent years Taylor has cleaned up his life and lived a clean lifestyle since 1999. After his soul-wrenching admission with Mike Wallace, LT has reignited his popularity with the public. He has become a consumer of well-known health and wellness products and spends a good deal of time promoting good health and natural, toxin-free living. He is an avid, scratch golfer and spends a good deal of his time focusing on health-related issues.
Giants teammate Phil Simms celebrated the retirement of his jersey by throwing a touchdown pass to Taylor.
References
*''Pro Football Hall of Fame:'' Member profile* CBS News' L.T. Over The Edge
* ESPN.com L.T. was reckless, magnificent
Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!
