5 Must-Know Lawrence Taylor Facts

There are very few players who have revolutionized the NFL like former New York Giants edge rusher Lawrence Taylor. Taylor's defensive contributions were so great that he was one of the main reasons that sacks became an official statistic recorded by the NFL. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in NFL history, regardless of position, and has the strongest argument of anyone for being the best defender of all time.

Taylor's illustrious career was full of incredible facts, the five most impressive of which are listed below.

Many non-football fans have likely heard Taylor's name thanks to his appearance in Michael Lewis's book, The Blind Side. The opening sequence of the book describes the play in which Taylor sacked Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Thiesmann, injuring him and essentially ruining Washington's season. Taylor's famous ability to terrorize left tackles, the side most quarterbacks cannot see, was credited by Lewis as creating the concept of a "blind-side blocker," a defender who had to be bigger, more athletic, and overall more capable to keep defenders like Taylor away from the quarterback.

Every NFL fan knows that the MVP Award is almost always awarded to the best quarterback in the league. Since the award's induction, 48 signal-callers have won it in 69 seasons through 2024. The next-closest position is running back, which has seen 18 MVP winners. Only three other positions besides those two have ever won the most prestigious award in football, with one being a kicker and the other being a defensive lineman. Taylor is the only linebacker to win the award, and the most recent defensive player to win it, despite capturing the MVP in 1986.

It obviously takes a truly elite level of play to win an MVP as a defender. That season, Taylor had 20.5 sacks, leading the Giants to a 14-2 record and an NFC East title. 

In addition to being one of two defensive players to win the MVP, Taylor added to his Hall of Fame resume as soon as he came into the NFL. As a rookie, he recorded 9.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Those numbers were good enough to earn Taylor the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and the Defensive Player of the Year award. It was, and still is, almost completely unheard of for a player to win both awards, and Taylor remains the only one to do it on the defensive side of the ball.

After a fantastic rookie season, Taylor continued to destroy opposing defenses for the vast majority of a decade. He made nine more Pro Bowls while being selected to the same number of All-Pro teams, eight of which were First Team selections. In that span, he was consistently in the running for Defensive Player of the Year honors, and he managed to capture the award a total of three times in 10 seasons. That is one of the most dominant spans from any player in NFL history, especially from any defender.

Taylor might be the scariest defensive player in the history of football, and he was lucky enough to work with one of the best defensive minds in football history in Bill Belichick. Belichick, who would go on to coach the New England Patriots to multiple Super Bowl wins, was Taylor's defensive coordinator throughout the 1980s, helping unlock the potential that Taylor eventually completely fulfilled.

If there is anyone who has seen it all at the NFL level, it is Belichick. He coached an endless stream of top-tier NFL defenders, but even he thought that Taylor was the cream of the crop. The legendary coach described Taylor as "the greatest defensive player in NFL history." Belichick was also famous for his reluctance to hand out praise to his players, so his description of Taylor holds a ridiculous amount of weight.

While the NFL turned to the passing game as the primary means of moving the ball, defenses searched for an answer to what was viewed as a completely different method of attack. Lawrence Taylor was one of the first replies that defenses found. His ability to pressure quarterbacks off the edge and consistently beat tackles in one-on-one matchups popularized two positions: outside linebacker and left tackle.

There are countless players currently in the NFL who have benefited from Taylor's influence. From legends of the game like Washington Commanders linebacker Von Miller to players currently in their prime like Pittsburgh Steelers edge TJ Watt, all outside linebackers and defensive ends have in some way modeled their game after Taylor. Their style of play and the paychecks attached to their position are largely thanks to the most legendary edge defender to ever do it.