Lawrence Taylor, more known after his nickname L.T., is an ex American football player who played in a position of linebacker in only one football club named New York Giants.
Lawrence was very popular and outstanding in his work. He was praised as the best defensive player in NFL history although he became also known for his substance abuse.
Early years
He was born as Lawrence Julius Taylor on February 4, 1969 in a town of Williamsburg in the state of Virginia. He was the oldest of three brothers born by Iris Taylor from Williamsburg. His father Clarence was an employee in a dispatching company and his mother Iris worked as a school teacher.
He was a very active child and often made problems to his parents due to his stubborness and his will for adventures. His family called him Lonnie, not Lawrence.
He was a big fan of baseball when he was a kid and played it passionately in his youth. He was playing it on the catcher position and was hoping to struck career in it.
He was fifteen when he got interested in football and it was late in eleventh grade that he started to play it for hus highschool football team.
He was a student at Lafayette High School and following his graduation he joined the University of North Carolina. He became the team captain there. Since he showed great skill in playing defense and set defensive records in a lot of categories he was chosen to be Player of the Year one year after he became linebacker, in 1980.
Career development
In 1981, after he was drafted by New York Giants, his career started going upwards. Lawrence wasn’t too happy about joining NY Giants because he wanted to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys but he never showed it to the crowd and the public.
Later Taylor changed his mind after he saw how much the team was happy to get him. Taylor wanted to wear number 56 (his idol Thomas Heuderson wore it in Dallas Cowboys) so he chose it for himself.
As soon as Taylor came to the training camp NY Giants discovered his great skills and abbilities. He was named „Superman“ by his own teamamtes because he was very quick and would jump very high and it was very odd since he was tall and heavy.
Taylor has a very strange relationship with Giant’s team coordinator and later head coach Bill Parcells and the two argued a lot. But eventually they have learned to work together.
In 1981 he started his rookie season great and it it still considered to be in Top 5 rookie seasons in NFL history.
He was named as the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1981 and a little later the Defensive Player of the Year. He was the only man in history to gain these two titles in the same year.
The New York Giants advanced after Taylor became their player. Out of the field Taylor was doing what he did as a child: seeked for adventure. He almost got himself killed while speed driving and the Giants decided to get an insurance on his life, worth $2 million.
In 1982 he was named Defensive Player of the Year, second year in the row.
In 1983, he was chosen for All-Pro Team in two categories: outside linebacker and inside linebacker, becoming the first ever to have both of this positions in the same year.
The owner of New Jersey Generals, Donald Trump, fought for him and he went to play with them but only one month later he regreted to leave Giants and was able to come back to them.
The New York Giants offered Taylor a $6 million worth contract which he accepted.
1986 was one of his best seasons in the NFL and he received the Most valuable Player award which was very odd for a defensive player to win unanonimously.
It was the third time that he was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Before Super Bowl XXI he was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. His team has won the Super Bowl in 986.
In 1988, The giants started their season with a very huge problem on their back: Taylor was involved into a controversy because he tested positive on cocaine and the elague has suspended him in one month. It was his second mistake because the 1st time he was positive on some substance it was not revealed to the public and nobody knew nothing about it.
His team and his fans started to be concerned about his career because of these drug issues.
He returned to playing football and continued his awesome performance neverthless.
Taylor had no problems playing through pain in the matches. In 1987 he played with a torn muscle and his performance was considered outstanding sinc he was in a lot of pain due to the injury.
In 1989, he again played with a fractured tibia which was painfull.
In 1990 Taylor had a disagreement with his club, demanded a new contract with $2 million every year.
He has signed a contract eventually, just a few days before the first game of the season against Philadelphia Eagles. They agreed for $5 million in 3 years.
New York Giants won the Super Bowl XXV, winning the Buffallo Bills from Niagara Falls area.
In 1990, Bill Parcels retired and the team gained a new head coach: Tay Handley. That 1991 season was very bad for Taylor and it was his first season ever that he didn’t become a member of the Pro Bowl Squad.
In 1992, he injured his Achilles tendon and had to stay out of a lot of games.
In 1993, Taylor was a lot more optimistic about his game because his coach became Dan Reeves, who had a better communication with him.
But unfortunately the season didn’t went well. Taylor was even caught crying in front of the camera after Gaints lost from Tigers. After that he announced that he is retiring and that he is aware that he won all he could and has no motivation for further work.
After finishing his football career he started working on TV as a football analyst, a commentator for amateur gifhting.
He appeared in „Any Given Sunday“ which was an Oliver Stone movie.
He was acting in „The Sopranos“ series on HBO.
He also gained a role in „The Waterboy“ movie.
In 2000 he appeared in „Shaft“.
He gave his voice to a videogame character in „Grand Theft Auto: Vice City“.
His voice also appeared in a video game called „Blitz: The League“.
The same year he starred in „Mercy Streets“ alongside Stacy Keach. „In Hell“ was the anme od the rpison movie where he acted alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in 2003.
In 1999 he joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 2004 he released his autobiography called „LT: Over The Edge“.
Personal life
As for his personal life he always had some problems. He was doing great on the field but not so great out of it.
He had problems with alcohol and drug abuse which caused him problems with his family and marriage problems.
After he got retired he started abusing drugs again and in 1995 he went on a rehab. He was also arrested twice while buying drugs, especially cocaine.
He was caught cheating on his wife several times and spoke himself about sleeping with prostitutes during marriage in his autobiography.
Taylor also had financial problems, loosing stocks of his own company, filling a false tax paper and evated tax which brought him eventually several months of house arrest and community service.
He staretd watching out for himself and playing golf, stating that it helped him a lot to get over drugs. He was one of the founders of a marketing company.
In 2009, he joined „Dancing with the Stars“ and went from the show in the 7th week.
It was the same year when he had a car accident but left the scene.
Half a year later he was arrested again, after haviong sex with a minor. This was called a statutory rape and he was sentenced to six year probation due to the fact that he made pela. Thast is when he was signed into sex offender register.
His first wife was named Deborah Belinda and they got married in 1982. They divorced in 1996. They have three children together: Lawrence Taylor, Tanisha Taylor and Brandon Taylor.
He also has a daughter Erielle out of marriage with Ebony Washington. He got married to Maritza Cruz in 2001, but their marriage lasted only four years. They got divorced in 2005.
In 1997 he got married to Lynette Taylor. They are still together but have marriage issues and the police is often called into their home.
She was arrested in the summer of 2016 after she threw an object onto her husband and hit him on a head causing a cut. She was charged with battery but Lawrence didn’t prosecute her. But she still received three days in jail penalty.
His son, Lawrence Junior Taylor, was in 2015 sentenced for 10 years after he pleaded guilty to child molestation and rape. He was arrested two years earlier because of raping two minor girls. Now he is also a sex offender as his dad.
This was decastating to his mother and caused her depression. They first didn’t believe it but he pleaded guilty so they realized that it was the truth.
Quick summary
Full name: Lawrence Julius Taylor
Date of birth: February 4, 1969
Birthplace: Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
Age: 50
Profession: former football player
Height: 1, 9m
Weight: 109 kgs
Net Worth: $100,00