Linebacker, New York Giants
Age: 23
2nd
season in pro football & with Giants
College: North Carolina
Height: 6’3” Weight: 237
Prelude:
Following a
college career in which he was a consensus first-team All-American and Atlantic
Coast Conference Player of the Year for 1980, Taylor was chosen in the first
round by the Giants in 1981 (second overall). It was expected that he would
start right away, and he did with an immediate impact. Not only was he the AP
Defensive Rookie of the Year, and a consensus first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl
selection, but he was selected as NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the AP.
1982 Season Summary
Appeared and
started in all 9 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Sacks – 7.5
[6, tied with Curtis Greer & Jesse Baker]
Most sacks,
game – 3 vs. Philadelphia 12/11
Multi-sack
games – 1
Interceptions
– 1
Int. return
yards – 97 [4]
Int. return
TDs – 1 [1, tied with many others]
Scoring
TDs – 1
Points – 6
Awards &
Honors:
NFL Defensive
Player of the Year: AP
1st
team All-NFL: AP, NEA, PFWA, Pro Football Weekly
1st
team All-NFC: UPI
Pro Bowl
Giants went
4-5 to finish tenth in the NFC, divisions having been eliminated due to the strike-shortened nature of the season.
Aftermath:
With his
attacking style of play, Taylor almost immediately set new standards for
outside linebackers and continued to excel with his excellent speed and ability
to disrupt running as well as passing plays. He was a consensus first-team
All-Pro in each of the next four seasons and a Pro Bowl selection over the next
eight. Taylor continued to be the leader of the Giants defense, including 1986 when
the team won the Super Bowl and Taylor received consensus MVP as well as
Defensive Player of the Year honors from the AP for a third time. He achieved
consensus first-team All Pro honors a total of eight times in addition to the
10 Pro Bowl selections in a career that spanned 13 years and 184 games. Taylor
retired following the 1993 season, with 132.5 career sacks, and his #56 was
retired by the Giants. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
Class of 1999.
--
MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or
Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or
USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football
Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press
International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league
itself).
One of the all-time greatest, at least certainly the greatest linebacker of the 80's. He was the main linchpin for pulling the Giants out of two decades of mediocrity and making them a force to be reckoned with in the 80's and early 90's, culminating in two Super Bowls. Not many like him (with perhaps the exception of Ray Lewis) have come along since.
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