82 Facts About Lawrence Taylor

1.

Lawrence Taylor is widely regarded as the greatest defensive player of all time.

2.

Lawrence Taylor was named both the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1981 and the only NFL player to win the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in his rookie season.

3.

Lawrence Taylor produced double-digit sacks each season from 1984 through 1990, including a career-high of 20.5 in 1986.

4.

Lawrence Taylor won a record three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player for his performance during the 1986 season.

5.

Lawrence Taylor is one of only two defensive players in the history of the NFL to have ever won the NFL MVP award, and no defensive player has won since him.

6.

Lawrence Taylor was named First-team All-Pro in eight of his first ten seasons, and Second-team All-Pro in the other two.

7.

Lawrence Taylor was a key member of the Giants' defense, nicknamed "The Big Blue Wrecking Crew", that led New York to victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

8.

Lawrence Taylor is widely regarded as the best defensive player of his generation, and is often considered to be the greatest defensive player of all time.

9.

Lawrence Taylor has lived a controversial lifestyle, during and after his playing career.

10.

Lawrence Taylor was known for his on-game persona, and at one point inadvertently caused a compound fracture of the right leg of quarterback Joe Theismann.

11.

Lawrence Taylor admitted to using drugs such as cocaine as early as his second year in the NFL, and was suspended for 30 days in 1988 by the league for failing drug tests.

12.

From 1998 to 2009, Lawrence Taylor lived a sober, drug-free life.

13.

Lawrence Taylor worked as a color commentator on sporting events after his retirement, and pursued a career as an actor.

14.

Lawrence Taylor was the first of three sons born to Clarence and Iris Taylor in Williamsburg, Virginia.

15.

Lawrence Taylor's father worked as a dispatcher at the Newport News shipyards, while his mother was a schoolteacher.

16.

Lawrence Taylor did not play organized high school football until the following year, and was not heavily recruited coming out of high school.

17.

Originally recruited as a defensive lineman, Lawrence Taylor switched to linebacker before the 1979 season.

18.

Lawrence Taylor had 16 sacks in his final year there, and set numerous defensive records.

19.

Lawrence Taylor was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American and the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1980.

20.

One of the two GMs who said they would not take Lawrence Taylor was Bum Phillips, who had just been hired as coach and general manager by the New Orleans Saints.

21.

Privately, Lawrence Taylor was hesitant about playing for New York as he had hoped to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, and was unimpressed with a tour of Giants Stadium he was taken on, after the draft.

22.

Lawrence Taylor's talent was evident from the start of training camp.

23.

Lawrence Taylor's teammates took to calling him Superman and joked that his locker should be replaced with a phone booth.

24.

Lawrence Taylor developed what has been termed a "love-hate relationship" with Bill Parcells who was the team's defensive coordinator when he was drafted, and would later become their head coach.

25.

Lawrence Taylor was named 1981's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, making him as of 2023 the only rookie to win an Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year award.

26.

Lawrence Taylor's arrival helped the Giants defense reduce their points allowed from 425 points in 1980 to 257 in 1981.

27.

In contrast to his on-field success Lawrence Taylor was already developing a reputation for recklessness off the field; after nearly getting killed during the season when his speeding resulted in a car crash, Young told the team's trainer he would be surprised if the linebacker lived past the age of 30, and the Giants insured Lawrence Taylor's life for $2 million.

28.

Lawrence Taylor ran in front of the intended receiver, intercepted the pass, and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown.

29.

Lawrence Taylor was again named Defensive Player of the Year.

30.

Lawrence Taylor was forced to play inside linebacker for part of the season, a position which allowed him fewer pass rushing opportunities, when Carson was injured.

31.

Frustrated by the losing, Lawrence Taylor began acting out by arriving late for meetings, and not participating in conditioning drills in practice.

32.

Lawrence Taylor was given a $1 million interest-free, 25-year loan by Generals owner Donald Trump on December 14,1983, with the provision that he begin playing in the USFL in 1988.

33.

Lawrence Taylor regretted the decision, and less than a month later attempted to renege.

34.

Lawrence Taylor's agent was able to negotiate by meeting with Trump personally and then the Giants which resulted in allowing Taylor to go with the Giants.

35.

Lawrence Taylor got a 6-year, $6.55 million package that included a $1 million interest-free loan.

36.

Lawrence Taylor says he has never seen video of the play and never wants to.

37.

In 1986, Lawrence Taylor had one of the most successful seasons by a defensive player in the history of the NFL.

38.

Lawrence Taylor recorded a league-leading 20.5 sacks and became one of just two defensive players to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award and the only defensive player to be the unanimous selection for MVP.

39.

Lawrence Taylor was named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time.

40.

Lawrence Taylor appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated alone the week leading up to Super Bowl XXI with a warning from the magazine to the Denver Broncos regarding Taylor.

41.

Lawrence Taylor made a key touchdown preventing tackle on a goal line play in the first half, stopping Broncos quarterback John Elway as he sprinted out on a rollout.

42.

Lawrence Taylor tested positive for cocaine and was suspended by the league for thirty days, as it was his second violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

43.

When Lawrence Taylor returned he was his usual dominant self as he led the team in sacks again, with 15.5 in 12 games played.

44.

Lawrence Taylor had already developed a reputation for playing through pain; in a 1983 game against the Eagles the team's training staff had to hide his helmet to prevent the injured Lawrence Taylor from returning to the field.

45.

Lawrence Taylor's shoulder was so injured that he had to wear a harness to keep it in its place.

46.

The retirement of the nine-time Pro Bowler Carson, broke up the Giants linebacker corps of Carson, Reasons, Banks, and Lawrence Taylor, which spearheaded the team's defense nicknamed the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" in the 1980s.

47.

Lawrence Taylor held out of training camp before the 1990 season, demanding a new contract with a salary of $2 million per year.

48.

Lawrence Taylor signed a three-year $5 million contract just four days before the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

49.

Lawrence Taylor finished with 10.5 sacks and earned his 10th Pro Bowl in as many years, although the season marked the first time in Taylor's career that he was not selected First-team All-Pro.

50.

Lawrence Taylor finished with 7 sacks in 14 games and the Giants defense, while still respectable, was no longer one of the top units in the league.

51.

Lawrence Taylor rebounded in the early stages of what many thought would be his final season in 1992.

52.

Lawrence Taylor returned for the 1993 season enticed by the chance to play with a new coach, and determined not to end his career due to an injury.

53.

Lawrence Taylor finished with 6 sacks, and the Giants defense led the NFL in fewest points allowed.

54.

Lawrence Taylor ended his career with 1,089 tackles, 132.5 sacks, nine interceptions, 134 return yards, two touchdowns, 33 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, and 34 fumble return yards.

55.

Lawrence Taylor, defensively, has had as big an impact as any player I've ever seen.

56.

Lawrence Taylor changed the way defense is played, the way pass-rushing is played, the way linebackers play and the way offenses block linebackers.

57.

Lawrence Taylor is considered one of the best players to ever play in the NFL, and has been ranked as the top defensive player in league history by some news outlets, media members, former players and coaches.

58.

Lawrence Taylor has been described as one of the most "feared" and "intimidating" players in NFL history.

59.

The tactic employed by San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh in the 1982 playoffs, using an offensive guard to block Lawrence Taylor, was copied around the league.

60.

Lawrence Taylor would pass the NFL's drug tests by routinely obtaining his teammates' urine to submit as his own urine samples.

61.

Lawrence Taylor went public at $5 a share, and tripled in value during its first month.

62.

The stock price reached $16.50 a share, at which point Lawrence Taylor's stake had an estimated value of over $10 million.

63.

Lawrence Taylor ceased production shortly thereafter however, and Taylor, who never sold his stock, lost several hundred thousand dollars.

64.

Lawrence Taylor first worked as a football analyst for the now defunct TNT Sunday Night Football.

65.

Lawrence Taylor worked as a color commentator on an amateur fighting program entitled Toughman on the FX channel.

66.

Lawrence Taylor pursued a career in acting, appearing in the Oliver Stone movie Any Given Sunday where he played a character much like himself.

67.

Lawrence Taylor appeared as himself in the HBO series The Sopranos and the film The Waterboy.

68.

Lawrence Taylor had a role in the 2000 version of Shaft.

69.

Lawrence Taylor added his voice to the video game Blitz: The League and its sequel, which were partially based on his life in the NFL.

70.

Lawrence Taylor acted in the 2000 Christian film Mercy Streets with Eric Roberts and Stacy Keach, and the 2003 prison movie In Hell with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

71.

In 1999, when Lawrence Taylor became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there were some concerns his hard-partying lifestyle and drug abuse would hurt his candidacy.

72.

In 2004 Lawrence Taylor released an autobiography, LT: Over the Edge.

73.

Lawrence Taylor re-emerged into the public eye in July 2006, after appearing on the cover of a Sports Illustrated issue dedicated to former athletes and sport figures.

74.

Lawrence Taylor co-founded eXfuze, a network marketing company based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

75.

Lawrence Taylor was a contestant on the 8th season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Edyta Sliwinska.

76.

Lawrence Taylor was eliminated in the seventh week on the April 21,2009, show.

77.

In 2009, Lawrence Taylor started having troubles in his personal life again.

78.

Lawrence Taylor had already committed the same offense in 1996 when he totaled his Lexus in a one-car accident and left the scene, saying he did not think the law required the reporting of a single driver incident.

79.

Lawrence Taylor was released on a $500 bond, and the other driver later sued him, seeking $15,000.

80.

In May 2010, Lawrence Taylor was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl at a Holiday Inn located in Montebello, New York.

81.

On June 9,2016, Lawrence Taylor's wife was arrested for domestic violence in Florida after she threw "an unknown object" and struck Lawrence Taylor in the back of the head.

82.

In May 2017, Lawrence Taylor put up for auction the Vince Lombardi mini statue he had won for the Super Bowl XXV win.