Legendary coach Invoice Belichick is aware of a factor or two about expertise on the professional stage. Like many different nice coaches, he not often put a lot inventory in rookies. Besides one.
That was linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who burst on the scene with the New York Giants in 1981. In a latest interview on The Pat McAfee Present, Belichick stated Taylor was the one rookie he ever coached who was prepared for the NFL from Day 1.
“Lawrence Taylor was a distinct story,” Belichick stated, through Yardbarker. “Lawrence Taylor from Day 1 impacted the group, confirmed he was the most effective participant on the sector — means higher than everybody else — and (we) constructed a protection round him from that time going ahead. It’s often not Day 1 of (a participant’s) rookie 12 months. I’d say Lawrence Taylor can be the one exception to that rule.”
In 1981, the Giants chosen Taylor second total out of North Carolina, a godsend of a decide after the New Orleans Saints handed on him at No. 1 in favor of South Carolina working again and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers.
Belichick was a particular groups and defensive assistant beneath head coach Ray Perkins and defensive coordinator Invoice Parcells. All Giants followers understand how this story seems, so there’s no sense in going by the glory days that got here whereas Taylor roamed the Meadowland.
Taylor was All-Professional and Corridor of Fame-caliber from the second he stepped on the follow area that summer time. The Giants already had two Professional Bowl linebackers in Harry Carson and Brad Van Pelt, and one other stable one in Brian Kelley.
That’s why followers had been perplexed why basic supervisor George Younger selected to take a linebacker at No. 2 total as a substitute of making an attempt to repair one of many league’s worst offensive items.
However that questioning would finish rapidly as soon as they noticed the power and energy of Taylor, who remodeled the Giants right into a contender virtually all by himself. It was an incredible second in NFL historical past.
Few might ever bear in mind a defensive participant who had a lot affect on a group’s destiny, not even the good Dick Butkus. The Giants went from a doormat to a playoff group in Taylor’s first season.
