My Giant Life

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Praise for Lawrence Taylor

You saw hunger [in Taylor’s eyes]. Some guys were great at playing their position but didn’t 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 don’t 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 you’re 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 shouldn’t be that fast. —Former Giants linebacker Brian Kelley

In 30 or 40 years, I’m 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 didn’t 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 didn’t do that very often in this league, but I think he’s 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 I’ve 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 he’s the best defensive football player I’ve seen. I’ve said many times he’s the best player I’ve 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 you’re pinning me down—I’m a little prejudiced—I think I’d take Lawrence Taylor.... Because I know he’s 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 he’d pick if he were starting a football team

There’s 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 it’s 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 don’t 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. ‘Don’t 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, you’ll have to get somebody else. I promised.’ —Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, on his rookie-season experience with Lawrence Taylor

If there’s pressure on the defense anywhere, it’s opposite Lawrence because most offenses are geared to go away from him. So if you’re not ready, they’re going to have a field day on your side. —Former Giants linebacker Carl Banks

Contents

Introduction

1. The Beginning

Drafted Second by the Giants

Rookie Season

Bill Parcells

Bill Belichick

The 3–4 Defense

Trash Talking and Intimidation

Blitzing

Ray Perkins

Thanksgiving Day Touchdown

George Young

Dismal 1983 Season

Bears Lesson

2. The Big Games

1987 Divisional Playoff

1987 NFC Championship Game

Super Bowl XXI

1991 Divisional Playoff Game

1991 NFC Championship

Super Bowl XXV

3. The Men and Moments

Harry Carson

Brad Van Pelt

Brian Kelley

Gary Reasons

Carl Banks

Leonard Marshall

George Martin

Pepper Johnson

Jim Burt

Ottis O.J. Anderson

Mark Bavaro

Michael Strahan

Phil Simms

Phil McConkey

Rodney Hampton

Jumbo Elliott

Jeff Hostetler

The Suburbanites

Joe Morris

The NFC East

Dan Reeves

Giants Stadium

Joe Theismann’s Leg

MVP Season

Ray Handley Unrest

Final Season

No. 56 Retired

Clutch Catch: Phil Simms to L.T.

Wellington Mara

Hall of Fame

Joe Montana: The Best

Speaking of the J-E-T-S

Today’s NFL

4. Off the Field

Love of Golf

Dancing with the Stars

Acting Career

5. Giants After L.T. by William Wyatt

Super Bowl XXXV

Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLVI

Tiki Barber

Odell Beckham Jr.

Eli Manning

Jim Fassel

Tom Coughlin

Sources

About the Author

Photo Gallery

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 wasn’t crazy about the game. There’s too much standing around in baseball, not enough action. On the other hand, football brought plenty of action—and 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 don’t 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 who’s 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 wasn’t 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 weren’t strong enough to take me on, tackles weren’t quick enough for me. Even when the offense went to different combinations of blockers, they still couldn’t 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 weren’t scripted. That led to a lot of good Sunday afternoons for the New York Giants. Am I the best defensive player ever? I know I’m up there, but that’s tough for me to say. I played in a different era and a different time. Some things I could do, other players couldn’t, and there certainly were players who could do things I couldn’t.

I’m 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 couldn’t. Or making sure I knew how to play the draw when the other team tried to counter my aggressiveness. Stuff like that.

The New Orleans Saints had the first pick of the NFL draft the year I came out of college. Their coach, Bum Phillips, had Earl Campbell when he coached the Oilers. Campbell had been a bruising running back and carried the Oilers’ offense. Phillips was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time when he drafted George Rogers, who had won the Heisman Trophy at South Carolina.

I really don’t know what might have happened in my career if the Saints had taken me instead of Rogers. Going to the Giants probably turned out to be one of the luckiest breaks of my life, because they were rebuilding. Part of that rebuilding effort dealt with going to another defensive scheme. Fortunately, Parcells became the guy designated to come up with and implement that scheme.

People weren’t used to the kind of football I brought to the league. Linebackers were simply linebackers until I came along. Typical linebackers stopped the run and defended the pass. Once Parcells evaluated me, he began to let me do different things. I could rush the quarterback. At times I didn’t even know what defense we were in or what the offense was doing, but I always told the coaches, When I make mistakes, good things come of it.

All the while, I kept playing a physical game. I grasped the fact early that the nastiest, meanest players were the ones who got the furthest in the league. So I never had time to offer condolences when I put a lick on someone. I didn’t play dirty, but I needed that to keep the edge.

We had a good group of linebackers when I got to the Giants and some other quality players as well. I think my arrival helped rejuvenate that group’s desire to win. Guys such as Brad Van Pelt and Harry Carson were talented players who had played for losing teams for so long they almost accepted defeat. I mean, the Giants had gone through eight straight losing seasons to that point and had not made the playoffs in 18 seasons. So I think they were able to rediscover what it was like to be a player who refused to take losing lightly. And we began to win—a lot.

Because of the things I could do and the way I played, I earned a lot of honors along the way, such as the league’s MVP award in 1986. I was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, earned 10 Pro Bowl berths, was named a member of the league’s 75th-anniversary team selected in 1994, and earned a spot in the Hall of Fame in Canton. Most importantly, I played for two Super Bowl–winning teams. None of those accomplishments could have been attained without having a bunch of teammates who could play, too.

I played within the rules for the sake of the game. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t ramp up the intensity a little bit. Whenever I threw up before a game, I felt like I would have a big day. If your eyes got red and you got that sick stomach, you knew you were ready. I experienced a handful of games during my career where I felt like all of the action shifted to slow motion. On those days I felt like I could be out there all day, totally in the zone, where I didn’t even know where I was on the field. Everything was just totally blocked out. And I could do no wrong.

As a player, you understood there were situations that affected the momentum of the game. I felt as though you had to be able to recognize those situations and make plays.

During my rookie year, we went to St. Louis to play the Cardinals with two games left in the season. We could smell the playoffs, but we needed to finish strong. I remember blitzing their quarterback, Neil Lomax, from his blind side. After I leaped over a blocker I slammed right into Lomax, which caused him to fumble the ball. George Martin scooped up the ball and ran it back for a touchdown. I knew Lomax couldn’t see me when I went inside instead of outside, which I usually did. I’ll always remember that as one of my best hits. I couldn’t believe it when Lomax got up from that one.

Probably the game I’m most proud of was the one we played against the Saints in New Orleans in 1988. I suited up even though I had a torn muscle in my chest. I had to wear a shoulder harness, but I still played and actually came away with three sacks and two forced fumbles. We won on a last-minute 35-yard field goal by Paul McFadden. Afterward, Parcells gave me a hug and told me, You were great tonight. I don’t know how you got through that. I told him, Me neither.

I would love to have a do-over for the ’87 team after we won our first Super Bowl. I’m sure a lot of my teammates probably feel that way, too, because success went to our heads. After we won the thing, everybody wanted to write a book and nobody wanted to work anymore. Seemed like everybody wanted to redo their contract, too. We screwed that up. There was no way that team shouldn’t have come back and won more Super Bowls. Success is intoxicating, though. And that’s what makes consistency in any sport so hard.

I admire teams that can find a way to do it every year. Take the New England Patriots; they find a way to do it every year. Back in the day you had to admire the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills, teams that found a way to get back to the show each season. And they did it every year when the pressure was on. That’s tough to do.

Do I miss football? I do not.

People always told me I’d get the feeling that I wanted to play again, but I never have. I just moved on to other things. I did enjoy the game while I played it, though. I loved the game. I loved the contact. I still do love the game of football and what the game has done for me. As I get older, I really don’t have any regrets. I’m not the kind of guy who looks back and says, I wish I would have done things this way or that way. Or, I wish I hadn’t gotten into trouble. All of that’s part of the growing process. What I went through made me stronger.

I mean, it wasn’t an easy road. Actually, I traveled a pretty rocky road. I can say this: the things that I’ve done weren’t to hurt anybody. Those things hurt me. I’ve never tried to sugarcoat any of the stuff I did, or hide anything when I told my kids about the stuff I’d done. You hope as a parent that if you tell them the truth, you might spare them some of the embarrassment and pain that you went through. Having taken that road I’m equipped to handle the tough stuff that comes up every day. Bad things are going to happen. But I know I’ll get through all of it. And I know there will be a lot of good things that happen, too. I have so much to be thankful for in my life, believe me.

I feel lucky to have played when I did and lucky to be around the people who helped shape who I was—guys such as Parcells and Bill Belichick. Wellington Mara always looked out for me. I made so many friends while I was on the Giants, particularly with all the guys who played alongside me at linebacker. That crew I played with—I’ll tell you what, most every linebacker I ever played with was a class person. We still hang together. We still talk to one another. Carl Banks, Harry Carson, Brian Kelley, Pepper Johnson, Gary Reasons. We all still talk and still love each other and reminisce about the good old days. Some I remember, but I don’t remember what year I played with them, still I really enjoyed being around those guys. But the core guys, the guys you could count on every Sunday, the guys that were the backbone of your team, everybody has them, we’re still together. We’re a close-knit group. What we did to get to the championship helped build those bonds.

The fans treated me well and I love how they still treat me. I’m more appreciative of the fans from where I sit now than I once had been. Giants fans were always the best fans in the league, too. They supported me always. I can’t thank them enough for all the support they gave me or express how pumped up I used to get when they’d be chanting L-T! L-T! Seeing so many of them wearing No. 56 jerseys, and the banners they made, all of that was good stuff. Our fans were a big part of our success. You can ask anybody I played with about that.

How am I remembered? People remember me the way they want to. That was never for me to decide. I do know what I accomplished. I went to Super Bowls and the playoffs. I earned the respect of players in the league and people around the country. People who study the game, the players I played against—and some of the players since—know what I did. You know as a player it’s all going to be over at some point in time. So it’s all about what type of impact you had on the game. To me, that was the most important thing, knowing that I made a difference in the game. And I’m happy I did.

1. The Beginning

Drafted Second by the Giants

George Young wanted to select me with the second pick of the 1981 NFL Draft.

Young worked as the Giants’ general manager at the time, and the team wasn’t any good. I later learned that the days leading up to that draft were some of Young’s most stressful.

Word was he’d grown enamored with me after watching me play against Clemson my senior year at North Carolina. A big part of that had to do with the time I spent in the other team’s backfield. I saw a statistic from my senior season that 38 of my 69 tackles happened in the other team’s backfield, including 16 sacks. That helped us go 11–1 that season while earning me Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors—along with Young’s favor. Problem was, the Saints had the top pick.

Everybody knew that the Saints liked South Carolina running back George Rogers. He’d won the Heisman Trophy that year, and Saints coach Bum Phillips thought he could be another Earl Campbell, who had been Phillips’ horse when he coached the Houston Oilers from 1975 through 1980. He wanted to make a splash in his first season with the Saints and he saw Rogers as the guy to help take him in that direction.

Rogers stood 6’2", 220 pounds, and averaged six yards a carry for the Gamecocks while leading the nation in rushing.

Phillips believed in a strong running game being able to help