Lawrence Taylor episode of ‘A Football Life’ promises to be one of best in series

NFL: USA TODAY Sports-Archive

If you’re a fan of the NFL Network series ‘A Football Life’, there will be a treat in Season 8, particularly if you’re a fan of the New York Giants.

The best player in franchise history, Lawrence Taylor, will be featured.

The latest season of the show will include 11 new episodes starting on September 14th. The second episode of the season, set to air on September 21st, will be that of Taylor.

Of course, Taylor was one of the greatest players the league has ever seen. But it is his off-the-field issues that will likely be a primary focus of this particular episode.

Of the topics you can expect to be discussed will be his addiction to drugs and alcohol and his run-ins with the law. The career-ending injury sustained by Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Thiesmann will almost certainly be featured and the show may even touch on how he faced Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania 11.

But on the field, LT was unmatched. NFL Network agreed when it made him the No. 3 selection on its list of the Top 100 players in NFL history. I have no trouble making an argument for him being, at the very least, the best defensive player to ever step foot on a football field.

The Defensive Rookie of the Year winner in 1981, Taylor was an incredible physical specimen. He had the kind of athletic ability you just didn’t see in those days and if he were in his prime, his talent would easily hold up against the players of today.

Taylor was selected to 10 Pro Bowls while registering nearly 1,100 career tackles to go along with 132.5 sacks. But that’s not all, he could drop back into coverage and make plays on the ball as well.

But if you want to know just how good Taylor could be, just look up his 1986 season. That year, he led the entire league in sacks with 20.5 while helping lead the Giants to a win in the Super Bowl. He was named the MVP of the entire league, becoming just the second defensive player to ever accomplish that. No one has done it since.

Plainly put, he’s as good as any football player in the history of the league.

Hopefully, this episode will spend equal time on what he did on the field. LT is no saint. He’s honest about that. He says as much in his 2004 autobiography LT: Over the Edge.

This will be a show for everyone. Whether you loved Taylor, weren’t that enamored with him or never saw him play, this will be must-watch television.

 

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