Loading ...This interview with former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was conducted on December 18th, 2011 at The 86 Room during the event "Lawrence Taylor Uncut."
Giants 101: “All the time we hear about ‘the next LT’ – How do you feel about that?”
Lawrence Taylor: “Man, I don’t even pay attention. It’s not that I watch a lot of football that I know who’s good. There are some guys out there that I know that can play pretty well. Pittsburgh has got a couple, Baltimore has some; there are a lot of good players out there. I look at the Giants now, and I look at their defensive line, and I think they’ve got a great defensive line. I think they have a lot of athletes on the Giants team. But as far as who’s the next LT? That isn’t for me to call. I don’t know.”
Giants 101: “How about this kid, Jason Pierre-Paul?”
Lawrence Taylor: “He could be, and god bless if he is, but I would hope I did it for a lot longer than two years. I think the guy can be a good player, but anyone can have a good game. Great players don’t just play well; they elevate everyone else around him – that’s what it takes to be a great player.”
Giants 101: “In looking at today’s defense, do you feel it’s changed a great deal since you played?”
Lawrence Taylor: “Well, I think the game has changed somewhat; there’s more individual play than there is team play. I think defense may be more complex now, but in order to be a great defensive player, you still have to know what’s happening around you. When I was playing, I had to know my position, I had to know what the guy beside me was doing, I had to know what the guy behind me was doing, and I don’t know if they teach that anymore because the game is so fast and has changed. Back in the day boy, a great player knew everything; knew what everyone else was doing, and that’s what made him great.”
Giants 101: “With extra emphasis being placed on player safety,
Lawrence Taylor: “This is a rough game. People are going to get hit and people are going to get hurt. I do believe if you sit there and worry about attacking someone, and worry about going to helmet to helmet, or worry about where you’re placing a blow, that takes away from the aggressiveness of a player. Trying to let up here, trying to let up there … guy got the ball, he’s getting paid, put him on the ground. Shit just doesn’t happen that way.”
Giants 101: “As an aggressive player yourself, would you be able to play in today’s NFL?”
Lawrence Taylor: “I’d be the poorest guy in the league. I’d get fined every week. I wouldn’t do any dirty stuff, but this is a man’s sport … it’s not made for girls. In order to play good defense and good football, you have to attack your opponent. You don’t have to do it maliciously, but the object is to get them on the ground. I can’t worry about how I’m going to do it.”
Giants 101: “Your interaction with the fans is incredible. You act like they’re your next door neighbor.”
Lawrence Taylor: “A lot of people want to hold you to a higher standard than they hold themselves, and I don’t believe in that. I’m an everyday Joe, and maybe I had success, but at the end of the day I am going to have the same problems you’re going to have, the same hang-ups you’re going to have and the same temptations you’re going to have. I think most people I deal with or hang around with, and Giants fans I meet … I’m one of them. I’m not trying to pretend I’m all that. I am what I am. Hey listen, I’m going to have fun … and sometimes fun gets me in trouble. Me just a little bit more than others because there’s a lot more people watching.
“This day and age, everyone is a reporter. I’m old school. I believe you can do this and you can do that, but time is changing. As old as I am, I still have to change with the times. You can’t do what you used to do; you can’t do those things anymore because everyone is a reporter.”
