Lawrence Taylor - My Giant Life

To Giants fans

Praise for Lawrence Taylor

You saw hunger [in Taylors eyes]. Some guys were great at playing their position but didnt have that feeling inside, and that was something that L.T. had with him every down of every game and he never lost it. Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Joe Montana

I dont expect to see another player as great as Lawrence Taylor. Forget all that talk about impact players...this guy personally won games for the New York Giants. If youre looking for the best way to describe him, try this: he did it every play, every game. Former Giants coach Ray Perkins

L.T. set the standard with his speed, his strength, his all-out play. A lot of players have tried to copy his style, but there will never be another L.T. Hall of Fame NFL safety Larry Wilson

He was the No. 2 pick and could have come in with a big-headed attitude. But he came in eager to learn. By the way, anybody that big shouldnt be that fast. Former Giants linebacker Brian Kelley

In 30 or 40 years, Im going to take out the tapes and show them to my grandkids. To show them I really played against Lawrence Taylor. The greatest. That he was everything they said he was. Former NFL running back Keith Byars

We put three guys on him. It didnt seem to matter. He always made an impact. Former NFL quarterback Neil Lomax

We had to try in some way to have a special game plan just for Lawrence Taylor. Now, you didnt do that very often in this league, but I think hes one person that we learned the lesson the hard way. We lost ball games. Former NFL coach Joe Gibbs

I mean everything you did [on offense] was predicated to where he was and what he was doing. Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway

Lawrence Taylor, defensively, has had as big an impact as any player Ive ever seen. He changed the way defense is played, the way pass-rushing is played, the way linebackers play and the way offenses block linebackers. Hall of Fame NFL coach and TV analyst John Madden

All I can say about Lawrence Taylor is that hes the best defensive football player Ive seen. Ive said many times hes the best player Ive seen in my era defensively. Everyone else is a pretender. Hall of Fame NFL defensive end Howie Long

I think that he was the greatest football player that I ever stepped on the field against. Nobody dictated what you could do offensively like L.T. Former NFL quarterback Steve Bartkowski

He is the Michael Jordan of football. Former Giants defensive lineman George Martin

There are priority positions in this game, quarterback is one of those, so I consider that. But if youre pinning me downIm a little prejudicedI think Id take Lawrence Taylor.... Because I know hes going to be there every Sunday and try his best to win, for sure. Former NFL coach Bill Parcells, when asked by Fox Sports who would be the one player hed pick if he were starting a football team

Theres no other linebacker who had that air about him. When you think of linebackers, you think of L.T. You can think of [Dick] Butkus, you can think of everybody, but when you say L.T., it makes everybody raise their heads. Former Giants linebacker Jessie Armstead

Everybody uses L.T. as the measuring stick. I hear comments all the time, This guy is going to be the next L.T. Those guys never seem to measure up.... Not everybody can be L.T., with the size and speed and quickness. But you can use that to show, This is what its supposed to look like. Former Giants linebackers coach Mike Haluchak

If there ever was a Superman in the NFL, I think he wore No. 56 for the Giants. Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann

L.T. is that person who wants to be portrayed living on the edge. Lawrence is the guy who came in from Williamsburg [Virginia], very humble, very caring. L.T. is a star. L.T. is what probably has gotten Lawrence in all of the stuff because Lawrence is a sweetheart. I dont really deal with L.T. I deal with Lawrence. Former Giants linebacker Harry Carson

I had to cut L.T. on one play, and I cut him flat. He got up and came at me. Dont you ever cut me again, L.T. said. I said, Okay. When I went back to the bench, they said they wanted me to cut Taylor again. I said, No, youll have to get somebody else. I promised. Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, on his rookie-season experience with Lawrence Taylor

If theres pressure on the defense anywhere, its opposite Lawrence because most offenses are geared to go away from him. So if youre not ready, theyre going to have a field day on your side. Former Giants linebacker Carl Banks

Contents

Introduction

Because I was an athlete, I could have played a lot of different sports. Athletes can do that sort of thing because sports come easy to them. I could have played baseball; I just wasnt crazy about the game. Theres too much standing around in baseball, not enough action. On the other hand, football brought plenty of actionand it also brought the hitting.

I started playing football when I was a junior in high school and I just got better and better every year. Football has a physical component that I just loved. I dont know about a lot of things in life. But I know football.

When I was drafted in the NFL in 1981, I stepped straight from the University of North Carolina into the action. I wanted contact every day. I just wanted to hit, hit, hit. And on Sundays, I dominated from the beginning, playing the position of linebacker like nobody had ever played it before. I did things in the game that nobody had ever seen. A lot of people said I redefined the position during my years with the New York Giants.

Giants general manager George Young said this about me: He had an immediate impact. He made the weakside linebacker position the designated pass rusher position. Before L.T., the glamour guys were the inside guys. You could name a lot of middle linebackers: [Dick] Butkus, Mike Curtis, Ray Nitschke. But how many outside linebackers could you name?

The first thing quarterbacks would do after they broke the huddle is say, Where is this guy? Lawrence is a guy whos had many pretenders. Every time a new guy comes out, his agent says, This is the next L.T. I say, There is only one No. 56.

Redefining the position wasnt high on my list of priorities. I wanted to play the game. I wanted to dominate. I wanted to win. The things I could do, those were talents given to me from the man upstairs. For example, while running backs and tight ends werent strong enough to take me on, tackles werent quick enough for me. Even when the offense went to different combinations of blockers, they still couldnt stop me from getting busy in their backfield. I guess I was a freak.

Bill Parcells understanding combined with my talent allowed me to do some things that werent scripted. That led to a lot of good Sunday afternoons for the New York Giants. Am I the best defensive player ever? I know Im up there, but thats tough for me to say. I played in a different era and a different time. Some things I could do, other players couldnt, and there certainly were players who could do things I couldnt.

Im not really sure I know how to explain my career. I felt like a man playing with boys, and the things I could do, naturally, people were in awe of. I just know I always wanted to be the best at what I was doing. Parcells was our defensive coordinator my rookie season. He could see that I had the talent to do anything I wanted. As a coach, the most important thing he had to do with regard to me was to try to channel those instincts in the right direction. A lot of that came down to things like making sure that I understood when I could gamble and when I couldnt. Or making sure I knew how to play the draw when the other team tried to counter my aggressiveness. Stuff like that.