Lawrence Taylor hasn’t played in an NFL game since 1993, but Tuesday at the Bronko Nagurski luncheon at the Charlotte Touchdown Club, the former New York Giants linebacker reflected on one of his most famous hits.
In November 1985, Taylor barreled into Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, bringing Theismann to the ground in agony with two fractured bones in his right leg, one of which jutted out of his skin. Theismann never played another down in the NFL, but Taylor tried to put a positive spin on the injury.
“I did him a favor,” Taylor said to laughter from the audience. “That man was on his way out of football a long time before that. Listen, that was going to be his last year. He wasn’t playing very well. I did him a favor.”
The first-ballot Hall of Famer went on to recount his memories from the collision. He talked about Theismann screaming “like a little girl” on the ground. Before doctors carted Theismann off the field, Taylor remembered the quarterback said “LT, I’ll be back.”
“And I said, ‘Yeah, Joe, but not tonight.’”
Taylor said the physicality in the NFL has changed since his punishing blow.
“How I grew up was it’s a gladiator sport,” Taylor said. “You’re rough and tough and you walk into restaurants and you order straight from the street. Tell them to run a deer in here for me to tear some meat off, and I’ll eat it.”
In 2011, Taylor was sentenced to six years of probation for patronizing an underage prostitute. His wife was also arrested June 9 of this year on a domestic violence charge.
