'The Michael Jordan of football'
LT one giant step away from Hall of Fame
Posted: Saturday January 30, 1999 12:04 AM
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Taylor: "I'm not losing sleep on whether I make it or not." AP |
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Lawrence Taylor once described himself as a
wild man in a wild game.
Many former teammates, opponents and football analysts simply call Taylor
the greatest linebacker ever.
"He is the Michael Jordan of football," former New York Giants teammate
and defensive end George Martin said earlier this week. "There is just that
dominance."
People describe Taylor as intense, passionate, determined, ferocious,
powerful, fast, a raw talent. And, of course, there's the dark side.
Taylor was all of that off the field, too. He has had well-publicized
problems with substance abuse, money, temper, taxes and marriage both
during his career and since his retirement after the 1993 season.
And when Taylor is considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday
in Miami by a 36-man panel on the eve of the Super Bowl, that might be the
one thing that keeps him from enshrinement.
"In my mind, [he's] the best defensive player in the last 20 years," Fox
Sports analyst John Madden said in Miami. "If that is the criteria to get
in the Hall of Fame, he should be in the Hall of Fame. Now if they consider
some of the other stuff off the field, then I don't know.
| Meyer's
Analysis |
He's got my vote all the way. He was
the greatest linebacker I ever saw play the game, bar none. His skill on
the field was just exceptional. The plays that he could make were just
unreal at times.
But, there is always that lingering doubt. There
is always that cloud that hangs above him. He's not a great role model. Put
him in the Hall of Fame, but put an asterisk by it.- Ron Meyer
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"I don't know what the rules are. But if it's what the guy did on the
field, he sure should be in the Hall of Fame."
During a 13-year career with the Giants that was highlighted by two Super
Bowl championships and 10 straight Pro Bowl berths, Taylor forced offenses
to change.
When a quarterback got to the line of scrimmage, he had to know where No.
56 was on the field.
Pass plays that were supposed to be a simple as 1-2-3 were foiled when
Taylor got to the quarterback on two with a hit usually preceded by a
karate chop across the arms.
Running away from Taylor was just as problematic. He would run from
sideline to sideline and stop backs for 2-yard gains.
"He could have played in any decade and been outstanding in any decade,"
former Giants general manager and current NFL executive George Young said.
"The distinction that sets him apart is his ability to maintain his
intensity over the longest period of time in a game and a career."
| Lofton's
Analysis |
I would certainly vote on him. The
question on Lawrence Taylor is not whether he should be in the Hall of
Fame. It is whether or not he was the best linebacker to ever play in the
game.
The thing that is being brought up about Pete Rose not being
in the baseball Hall of Fame. Well in the bylaws of the NFL voting, there
is nothing about the integrity of the game. It is just what that player
while is on the field. -- James Lofton
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Countless times, Young has told the story of how he went to a North
Carolina game to scout someone else and ended up focusing on Taylor play
after play.
Taken by the lowly Giants with the No. 2 pick in the 1981 draft, Taylor
turned them around in a season, leading New York to its first playoff berth
in 18 years.
Everyone seems to have a favorite Taylor story.
Former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw only played against Taylor
once, in a 1981 exhibition game. He remembers, though.
"He dang-near killed me," Bradshaw said. "I just kept saying, 'Who is
this guy?' He kept coming from my blind side and just ripped my ribs to
pieces."
Bill Parcells, who coached Taylor most of his career, was the Giants'
defensive coordinator that season, and he recalled a game against the St.
Louis Cardinals.
Taylor was supposed to drop off in coverage on a play. Instead, he rushed
in and sacked the quarterback.
When he got to the sideline, Parcells said, "Lawrence, what are you
doing?"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot, I was supposed to drop back."
Later in the game, in the same situation, he was supposed to be in
coverage. Instead, he blitzed, got another sack, and forced a fumble.
Martin picked it up and ran for a TD.
At the sidelines, L.T. was mobbed, but Parcells wasn't in the
celebration. He stared at Taylor from a distance.
Their eyes met and Taylor slapped himself in the head and said, again,
'Oh, I forgot again.'"
Parcells said, "Lawrence, we don't have what you're doing in the play
book."
"Well, coach, maybe we should put it in."
The next day, it was in the game plan. And it stayed there.
Former Washington offensive tackle Mark May said then-coach Joe Gibbs
started putting in special sliding defenses for Taylor, although Gibbs
never called them "Giants defenses." It was the "blue package," although
part of the terminology was "56 is the rover, find the rover."
Since Taylor moved from side to side as a linebacker who was more a
defensive end, May was assigned to block him at times. His solution was to
get dirty.
"I knew if he got a sack or a hurry on my side he would stay over there,
so after the play I would hit him in the knee, in the groin and the stomach
so he wouldn't want to stay over there," May said. "I didn't care if I took
a personal foul. If he stayed there, I was going to have a long day."
Since one blocker was never enough, most teams doubled Taylor and even
had a running back block him for a little extra help.
It rarely helped, though. Taylor finished his career with 132 1/2 sacks,
which didn't count 9 1/2 as a rookie because sacks weren't an official stat
until 1982.
Taylor always downplayed his numbers. The only things that mattered was
winning, golf and probably himself. He once claimed to rehab himself on the
links.
He hated to lose and he found ways to put the Giants over the top, be it
the late interception against Detroit one Thanksgiving or the forced
turnover or big tackle.
"There are a lot of people who can make tackles, but I always seemed to
look for the big play," Taylor said Monday. "The big play got noticed, the
big play was the one that changed the game.
"... I have always wanted to be the one who made those plays."
Phil McConkey said the scary part about Taylor was he never seemed to
work during the week. During their five years as teammates, the receiver
never once saw L.T. do a toe touch or a situp or even lift a weight. He
just showed up on Sundays and created havoc for opponents.
"It was pure, raw physical talent," McConkey said. "Michael Jordan
worked. He worked hard at his craft. L.T. didn't work. To think of him
being one of the greatest athletes of all time, one of the greatest
football players of all time and he didn't work at it, unless he did it in
secret somewhere."
Taylor credited Parcells with knowing how to use him.
Parcells was smart enough to have different rules for L.T. and everyone
else, and the players accepted that. Some even donated urine samples so
Taylor could pass league-mandated drug tests.
"If the consequences for my choices are not being in the Hall of Fame,
you guys decide that," Taylor told the media Monday. "...I'm not losing
sleep on whether I make it or not.
"Yes, I would love to be in there. I expect to be in there. I think I
have worked hard enough to be in there. But yes, I have had problems in my
life."
Martin said those problems should not bar Taylor from the Hall of Fame.
"I don't think there has been an easier vote in the history of the game,"
Martin said. "I dare anyone to challenge me. There hasn't been an easier
vote for the Hall of Fame than Lawrence."
May agrees.
"The game has changed so much. They want everything lily-white and
players to be pure and clean," said May. "That's not the way football is
meant to be. It doesn't mean everyone has to be a choir boy."
CNNSI.com users agree as well. In a poll of more than 20,000 users, 68
percent said they would vote Taylor into the Hall of Fame.
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