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“I had everything working my way, strong as a bull. And still I ignored the rules of the game of life.”
When: 1982 – 1993
Where: NFL – New York Giants
Who: Lawrence Taylor
- Born, February 04, 1959
- Nicknamed “L.T.”
- All-American, at teh University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1978-1981)
- Linebacker, NY Giants — his entire career
- John Fennelly: “After 40 years, I have yet to see anyone make the same impact on the game. Taylor’s former teammate Carl Banks, a fellow linebacker with the Giants during their 1980s championship runs, agrees.” [1]
- Stats [2] — “Taylor won “Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award” in years 1986, 1982, 1981. . . .Тауlоr wоn “NFL Ноnоrѕ – АР Dеfеnѕіvе Rооkіе оf thе Yеаr” іn 1981. Не wоn “Веrt Веll Аwаrd” іn 1986. Не wоn “АР Моѕt Vаluаblе Рlауеr” іn 1986. Не аlѕо wоn “ЅІ’ѕ Аll-tіmе Соllеgе Аll-Ѕtаrѕ” іn 2008. He was listed in the third position on the list of the 100 Greatest Players in the NFL.” [3]
- “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.” — John Madden, via ESP
- “In 1990, the Giants made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. They inked him to a three-year, $5 million deal to keep him on the field.” [1]
- “He retired after the 1993 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999 as one of the greatest players to ever step on the gridiron.” [1]
- Author: “LT: Living on the Edge”
- Earned $50,000,000.
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- He was addicted to alcohol and drug throughout his football career.
- 1996 and 1997, arrested in South Carolina and Florida on drug charges.
- 2000, sentenced 5 years for filing false tax returns and tax evasion — but placed under house arrest for several months
- 2001, Taylor was convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia in New Jersey.
- “I saw coke as the only bright spot in my future.” — 60 Minutes interview – 2004
- 2011 — pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute
- “A GIANT’S WORDS
What Lawrence Taylor said about using cocaine:
— “From very early on (the Giants) knew who was into drugs. They certainly knew I was because they let me know. If they wanted to bust me, fine. But I knew they weren’t going to do that, not as long as I was who I was.”
— “I will never apologize for the (1985) season I had, something I believe the media is waiting for me to do.”
— “I had been a man who had never been controlled by anyone or anything and . .” [5]
- 2022 — net worth $200,000
Key Biblical Thoughts:
- sin
- salvation
- riches
- power
- prominence
- success
- fame
- accomplishment
- sex
- drugs
- love of the world / worldliness
- the world, the flesh, and the devil
- gain the whole world and lose your soul
Sermonic Example:
While I am far from a committed football fan, this story caught my interest.
His name was Lawrence Taylor!
For many, when I mention his name, I well imagine several thoughts come to mind. One of them has to be how his life self-destructed!
(use whatever you find useful in the above details)
Listen . . . . Sexual promiscuity, alcohol, and drugs stole just about everything from Lawrence Taylor, as it did from Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Tyler says what Taylor came to learn — ““My sobriety cost me nothing less than everything. I lost everything.” [4]
These kinds of accounts are not unknown to many in our culture and society.
Other Information And Links:
2. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TaylLa00.htm
3. https://www.wealthypersons.com/lawrence-taylor-net-worth-2020-2021/
“My sobriety cost me nothing less than everything. I lost everything. It’s serious. It’s serious when you lose your kids,your children,your wife,your band,your job and you’ll never understand why because you’re an addict. You can’t figure that out.”
5. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-07-24-8703010989-story.html
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— https://www.tmz.com/2021/12/17/lawrence-taylor-arrest-florida/
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Taylor
— https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-dec-03-sp-penner3-story.html
Lawrence Taylor’s Net Worth: How “LT” Lost $50 Million
— https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/lawrence-taylor-net-worth/
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“By now, we know the drill.
Television network, seeking better prime-time ratings, airs program featuring tales of a star pro linebacker who had a $1,000-a-day cocaine-and-prostitute habit, smoked crack on game days, beat league drug tests by borrowing clean urine from teammates and frequently sent call girls to the hotel rooms of opposing running backs to exhaust them the night before a game.
NFL responds by denouncing the program.
Except, this wasn’t a new episode of “Playmakers.”
This was Lawrence Taylor on CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, plugging his new tell-all book, in which Taylor reveals that during his days as an all-pro linebacker with the New York Giants, he went “through an ounce [of cocaine] a day. And at times I’d be standing in the huddle, and instead of thinking what defense we were playing I’d be thinking about smoking crack after the game.”
The excerpt prompted raised eyebrows from Wallace and this boast from Taylor: “Well, like, you got to understand, though: It didn’t affect my play.”
Taylor also told Wallace that he and defensive teammates competed for bounties awarded to anyone who knocked an opponent out of the game.
“That’s just part of being the rough and tough football player,” Taylor said. “You get no pay for doing a cheap shot, but if I hit you straight up — we’re going to get paid for that. That’s part of life. It may be $500. It may be $1,000. That’s big money back then.”
The Taylor segment lasted 12 minutes. From the NFL’s perspective, they were a dozen minutes from hell.”
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On one edition of the CBS television show NFL Today, Deion Sanders and Dan Marino found themselves arguing on the air. The bone of contention was Lawrence Taylor’s book, LT: Over the Edge—a controversial account of Taylor’s years in the National Football League.
“When I was on the field, I was Superman,” Taylor had described in his book. “It was almost like I operated on a higher plane…. But when I came off the field, something happened. LT became Lawrence Taylor, and Lawrence Taylor was completely clueless. Like Clark Kent on crack.”1
Taylor admitted he had often been out of control, addicted to cocaine and a hard-partying lifestyle that led to a bitter divorce, numerous arrests, financial ruin, broken health, and deep depression. He went on to describe the excesses of other NFL players.
As Sanders and Marino discussed the book on the air, Marino expressed surprise at some of the revelations in Taylor’s book and indicated that such things did not happen when he was a quarterback. When Sanders scoffed at Marino’s incredulity, Marino took offense. “Why are you saying I’m naïve?”
Deion replied: “Don’t tell me you don’t know what goes on in the NFL. You don’t know guys get high and guys do everything under the sun? Twenty-year-old or thirty-year-old guys with millions of dollars—that equals destruction. So you can’t sit up here and tell me that you were immune to that stuff.”2
— https://www.davidjeremiah.org/happiness/the-key-to-happiness
RhetoricAndHomiletics.Org 