Tag: Lawrence Taylor

Bill Belichick: Lawrence Taylor only NFL-ready Day 1 rookie ever

Bill Belichick says he’s never seen a rookie who was NFL-ready on Day 1 with a single exception: New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor.

Legendary coach Bill Belichick knows a thing or two about talent at the pro level. Like many other great coaches, he rarely put much stock in rookies. Except one.

That was linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who burst on the scene with the New York Giants in 1981. In a recent interview on The Pat McAfee Show, Belichick said Taylor was the only rookie he ever coached who was ready for the NFL from Day 1.

“Lawrence Taylor was a different story,” Belichick said, via Yardbarker. “Lawrence Taylor from Day 1 impacted the team, showed he was the best player on the field — way better than everyone else — and (we) built a defense around him from that point going forward. It’s usually not Day 1 of (a player’s) rookie year. I would say Lawrence Taylor would be the one exception to that rule.”

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In 1981, the Giants selected Taylor second overall out of North Carolina, a godsend of a pick after the New Orleans Saints passed on him at No. 1 in favor of South Carolina running back and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers.

Belichick was a special teams and defensive assistant under head coach Ray Perkins and defensive coordinator Bill Parcells. All Giants fans know how this story turns out, so there’s no sense in going through the glory days that came while Taylor roamed the Meadowland.

Taylor was All-Pro and Hall of Fame-caliber from the second he stepped on the practice field that summer. The Giants already had two Pro Bowl linebackers in Harry Carson and Brad Van Pelt, and another solid one in Brian Kelley.

That’s why fans were perplexed why general manager George Young chose to take a linebacker at No. 2 overall instead of trying to fix one of the league’s worst offensive units.

But that questioning would end quickly once they saw the energy and power of Taylor, who transformed the Giants into a contender practically all by himself. It was an amazing moment in NFL history.

Few could ever remember a defensive player who had so much impact on a team’s fate, not even the great Dick Butkus. The Giants went from a doormat to a playoff team in Taylor’s first season.

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See it: Rangers honor Giants legends with Stadium Series goalie helmets

The New York Rangers will honor a pair of New York Giants legends with custom helmets for the 2024 NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium.

The New York Rangers will take on the New York Islanders in the 2024 NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

For the Rangers, history is on the table. They are 4-0 in their outdoor games and with a win over the Islanders, they would become the first team to ever win five straight in such a setting.

Given the unique nature and location of the game, the Rangers ordered up new goalie helmets and drew inspiration from their surroundings.

Jonathan Quick will honor New York Giants legends Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan with a beautiful airbrush.

Check it out:

Taylor is, of course, the greatest defensive player of all time — someone who revolutionized the game of football and how offensive game plans are designed.

Strahan was a game-changing defender in his own right, holding down the defensive end position for the Giants over a span of 15 years. He set the all-time single-season sacks record with 22.5 in 2001 (later tied by T.J. Watt).

Combined, Taylor and Strahan have three Super Bowl rings and four NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.

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Peter King names 8 Giants to his All-Time 53-Man Roster

8 former members of the New York Giants were named to Peter King’s All-Time 53-Man roster, including a few surprises.

The NFL offseason is a relatively dry time for content and that leads to a number of odd projects and fantasy scenarios.

Peter King of NBC Sports recently took on one of those exercises and compiled an All-Time 53-Man roster. What makes this roster unique is that it’s not made up of the best players of all time but rather, the best team players of all time.

King broke things down by position and his depth guys were true depth guys. His special teams players were true special teams players.

And in total, eight former members of the New York Giants were among the 53.

Giants legend Lawrence Taylor admits he couldn’t play with modern rules

New York Giants legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Lawrence Taylor, admits he couldn’t play in the modern era due to the coddled rules.

Retired New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was a monster during his tenure with the team.

From 1981-1990, L.T. earned multiple awards every season including 10 Pro Bowl appearances, First Team All-Pro honors, Second Team All-Pro honors, was a six-time Defensive Player of the Year, and more.

When Taylor was on the field, quarterbacks knew it. And if they didn’t, they learned pretty quickly what a threat L.T. was.

Taylor was aggressive. He was mean. He knew his job and he did it well. But if he were to play in today’s NFL, 30 years after he retired, how would his game translate?

Not well.

Taylor was recently asked about that on the Let’s Go! podcast with Tom Brady and Jim Gray.

“I don’t think I could finish a game nowadays,” Taylor said, via Newsday. “Because of the rules.”

The NFL has made a multitude of rule changes over the last decade, mostly for player safety, and the game has changed quite a bit. It’s no longer the grind it out, play through the pain, sacrifice everything on the field kind of game. Today’s NFL is more finesse, more speed, and more technical skill sets.

Perhaps more noteworthy, it’s a far less violent game, which is something that helped Taylor excel in the 1980s and 1990s.

“I like the era that I played in because if I was playing nowadays, I probably wouldn’t last the game,” he said. “Have you ever known me to conform to anything? I would get thrown out. It’d been hard for me to play. I may have ended the season owing them money (in fines).”

Taylor’s Hall of Fame career changed the way offenses looked at defenses. It changed the way defenses attacked opponents. But he would likely get flagged on most plays in today’s game.

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Bill Belichick shuts down Micah Parsons-Lawrence Taylor comparisons

Bill Belichick isn’t putting any defensive player ahead of Lawrence Taylor, and that includes Cowboys LB Micah Parsons.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is not buying into the Micah Parsons-Lawrence Taylor comparisons just yet, and he made that very clear during his weekly appearance on WEEI.

There is little doubt that Parsons is playing at a high level, especially so far this season. He has four sacks and 12 tackles in three games, and he is coming off a 2022 season that saw him record 13.5 sacks. He has recorded at least 13 sacks in his first two full seasons in the league.

Belichick coached Taylor in the 1980s and got to see the pass-rusher’s dominance up close. Taylor finished his career with 132.5 sacks. He is an NFL Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest defensive player of all time.

Although Parsons is good, Belichick is not ready to put him in the same category as Taylor just yet, as noted in a report from NESN.com’s Dakota Randall.

“I think comparing players like that is not really — I would just say, I wouldn’t put anybody ahead of Lawrence Taylor,” said Belichick. “Period. Now, maybe I’m prejudiced, but I saw that guy every day for over a decade, and he tilted the field for a decade.

“So, until somebody does that — and there’s a lot of great players; I’m not taking anything away from anybody else. There’s a lot of great players that have been in this league, that are in this league. But personally, I’m not putting anybody ahead of Lawrence Taylor. Not yet.”

There is no doubt that Parsons is having a strong career. He is already one of the best defenders in the league. His career trajectory is looking really strong at the moment. There could come a time when he ends up in the same breath as Taylor.

However, Belichick is staying away from those comparisons, for now.

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ESPN lists 2 Giants pass rushers among the best of all-time

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently listed the NFL’s all-time best pass rushers by year and 2 New York Giants made the cut.

The New York Giants have had plenty of great players on the defensive side of the ball throughout their history. During all four of their Super Bowl runs, pass rushers are who stole the show.

Last week, ESPN listed the best pass-rushers of all-time, ranking one player per year and two of the Giants’ most famous pass rushers made the list.

Lawrence Taylor, whom many consider the greatest defensive player of all-time, made the list for the years of 1981-1986.

1981-86: Lawrence Taylor, Giants

Taylor was both Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 1981, when he helped a Giants defense that had been 27th in points allowed jump to third in one season. He was Defensive Player of the Year again in 1982 and won the award again in 1986, becoming the second and most recent defender to win league MVP honors in the process.

To put Taylor’s performance in context, I’ll remind you of what coach Bill Belichick said about him in talking to ESPN’s Mike Reiss: “I’ve been fortunate to coach a lot of great, great defensive players,” Belichick said, “but when you talk about Lawrence Taylor, now that’s a whole different conversation. I mean, honestly, he could have played any position on defense except corner. He probably could have played corner, too, but safety, linebacker, inside, outside, defensive end, defensive tackle. He played nose guard at North Carolina, so put him wherever you want.”

There were players who might have competed with Taylor during this stretch. Mark Gastineau led the league with 19 sacks in 1983 and then hit 22 sacks in 1984, setting an NFL record that stood for more than a decade. Richard Dent had consecutive 17-sack seasons in 1984 and 1985 for the Bears, who fielded what might have been the best defense in NFL history during the latter season. Even given how productive those players were, though, the majority of NFL observers at the time would have suggested that the Jets and Bears would have improved if Taylor replaced Gastineau or Dent in the lineup. There was just no replacing Taylor.

There is no surprise here as Taylor was by far the most feared defensive player during his time in the league. In his prime there was no one better.

Meanwhile, Michael Strahan was listed for his record breaking 2001season when he set the single-season sack record.

2001: Michael Strahan, Giants

Yes, once upon a time, before he became a television star and morning personality, Strahan was a pretty good football player! It looked like he had peaked with a 15-sack season in 1998, but then came 2001. He was off the scoresheet for the first two weeks of the season but got going fast. He racked up 15 sacks over his next seven games, including a three-sack effort against the Saints and a four-bagger against the Rams.

Strahan’s final sack of that record-setting season might be infamous, given that quarterback Brett Favre seemed to go down innocuously under pressure from an unblocked Strahan. Politely, I’ll just suggest most quarterbacks in their right minds would take a knee against an unblocked Strahan and call it a day as opposed to trying to take on a dominant edge rusher. Even if you want to paint his single-season record with an asterisk, he still managed 22.5 sacks. No other Giants player had more than six.

Strahan’s 22.5 sack total still stands as the most in a single season despite the NFL moving to a 17-game season in 2021. Strahan did make the list again for his 2003 campaign.

2003: Michael Strahan, Giants

Strahan took back the belt in 2003 with an 18.5-sack campaign on a downright miserable Giants team. In a year in which they won four games, faced only 519 pass attempts and didn’t have a single other defensive player with more than 5.5 sacks, he routinely took on double-teams and still managed to consistently make plays. While 2001 was about Strahan taking over a handful of games, 2003 was about consistency. He had 12 different games with at least one sack, a figure that tied him for the league record at the time. (It has since been topped, including once by a player who will later appear on this list.)

This was Strahan’s last dominant season; he missed half of 2004 after tearing a pectoral muscle on his right side and was further sidelined by a right foot ailment in 2006. He considered retiring after the season before returning for one final campaign in 2007. Of course, he made the right choice, as he went off into the sunset, having helped the Giants upset the previously undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Both Strahan and Taylor are in the Hall of Fame for their accolades after spending the entirety of their NFL careers with Big Blue. They were most certainly two of the best pass rushers in the league during their prime and rightfully earned a spot on the list.

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The best defensive player of all time for all 32 NFL teams

Who has terrified quarterbacks and coaches the most for every team?

The modern NFL game is not built for defenses to thrive. Heck, even in times of “three yards and a cloud of dust,” it’s arguable the league never actually wanted defenses to win. At least, once the powers that be learned that offense sells like hotcakes.

Suffice it to say, playing defense in the NFL can be an impossible job. So the men that have courageously taken on the assignment of slowing down high-flying attacks stand out all the more.

In pro football lore, the best defenders ever are those who made offensive coordinators lose countless hours of sleep as they game-planned. They are the players who made quarterbacks quite literally see ghosts when standing in the pocket. They are pictures of reliability and dependability and are the preeminent warriors of the West’s favorite gladiator sport.

The below list examines the greatest defender in the history of all 32 NFL teams. My criteria was simple and rooted around these questions: What was their production like? Did they have a high intimidation factor? How available were they for their teammates? Did they pioneer a new way of playing their position?

It’s not easy playing defense in the NFL. But these fine gentlemen sometimes made the impossible seem like a casual task.

Also, check out:

The best player ever for all 32 NFL teams

Who’s the GOAT for every team?

Some NFL players are so much more than the basic sum of their parts.

They are not mere cogs in The Machine, doing their job, punching in and out while carrying a lunch pail. They are the genuine difference-makers, the tone-setters, the memorable faces of the franchise, and the people who inherently make the uniforms they wear iconic by default.

No matter how long an NFL team has actually been around, they’ve had at least one great player. It’d be impossible not to. Everyone has had that one superstar who was a bright magnet of charisma and someone who never shied away from the spotlight — either from the opposing team or fans. Everyone has had that player who made folks fall in love with their team.

The following list takes a look at the finest player in franchise history for all 32 NFL teams. It takes into account individual accomplishments, peer comparisons, influence on their team and city, and how well their skills translated to the tests of time. If you’re even a casual pro football observer, you will undoubtedly guess some of the more obvious selections, while others had more of a back-and-forth.

Let’s break it down.

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Lawrence Taylor named Giants’ best Hall of Famer

The 33rd Team has named linebacker Lawrence Taylor the best New York Giants player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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The New York Giants are a consistent and dominant presence at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but which of those enshrined is the best of the franchise?

Barry Wilner of The 33rd Team recently pondered that question for all 32 teams and when it came to the Giants, the answer was obvious: Linebacker Lawrence Taylor.

Another team with a fascinatingly deep history of stars, none more celestial than Lawrence Taylor. If Deacon Jones invented the sack, LT refined it with the strip-sack, using that arm chop to not only knock loose the ball from quarterbacks but recovering it. A do-everything linebacker, Taylor outdid Jones by actually winning MVP honors in 1986, a Super Bowl year for New York. He established the prototype for the modern-day LB/edge rusher, too.

Taylor is widely regarded as the best defensive player of all time. He is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and one of two players to win the MVP award as a defender. The accolades continue for L.T. as he had eight First-team All-Pro nominations and 10 straight Pro Bowl appearances.

He absolutely dominated the 1980s and early 90s recording 142 sacks (with a 20.5 sack season) and nine interceptions. Taylor also won two Super Bowls during that run, putting Big Blue on the map as one of the best franchises in football.

When people say defense wins championships, Taylor is the definition of it. He revolutionized the game and is well deserving of this spot as the best Giants Hall of Famer.

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Tar Heel Football great Lawrence Taylor selected to All-Time list

NFL Hall of Famer and Tar Heel Football great Lawrence Taylor was named to former coach Dave Wannstedt’s All-Time Front 7 list.

There’s been a lot of great football players who spent their college years at the prestigious University of North Carolina, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

One guy that comes to the forefront is 3-time Pro Bowler Robert Quinn, who played at UNC in 2008 and 2009. At age 33, Quinn is a 3-time Pro Bowler, a 1-time NFL forced fumbles co-leader and a 2013 First-Team All-Pro.

If you dig back into the 1900’s, however, you’re going to find the greatest defensive player to ever don a Tar Heel Football uniform.

That man goes by the name of Lawrence Taylor, the 1980 ACC Player of the Year, who was recently named to the 33rd Team’s best all-time NFL front seven.

Taylor, the New York Giants’ second overall pick back in 1981, is a member of the prestigious Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has a list of professional accolades that could write a whole chapter – the Giants’ all-time sack leader (142), 2-time Super Bowl champion, NFL MVP (1986), 3-time NFL defensive Player of the Year, NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, 8-time First Team All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler, NFL sack leader (1986), just to name a few.

“His dominance on the line forced offenses to turn protection to whichever side Taylor was on,” longtime NFL and collegiate coach Dave Wannstedt told Giants Now. “Coordinators wanted to make sure you got a big offensive lineman blocking L.T. rather than running the opposite way and expecting a running back to block him. That’s what most teams did. When L.T. was on the field, you must use the lineman to him to give you the best chance to slow him down.”

Taylor joined current NFL great Aaron Donald and historic greats Ray Lewis, Derrick Brooks, Junior Seau, Reggie White, Joe Greene, on Wannstedt’s All-Time Front 7.

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