Lawrence Taylor - Drugs and Extreme Measures

Drugs and Extreme Measures

In contrast to his success on the football field, Taylor's personal life has been marred by drug usage and controversy. When Taylor was once asked what he could do that no outside linebacker could, his answer was, "Drink". However, alcohol abuse was not the largest of his substance abuse problems. After admitting to and testing positive for cocaine in 1987, he was suspended from football for 30 days in 1988 after failing a second drug test. After his second positive test he gave up drugs for five years as a third positive test would have ended his career. As he approached retirement however, he looked forward to picking up the habit again, saying in his second autobiography, "I saw coke as the only bright spot in my future." After his retirement he began abusing drugs on a regular basis. He went through drug rehab twice in 1995, only to later be arrested twice over a three-year span for attempting to buy cocaine from undercover police officers. During this period, he lived almost exclusively in his home with white sheets covering his windows and only associated with other drug users. Taylor later said, “I had gotten really bad. I mean my place was almost like a crack house." In his second autobiography, Taylor admitted that he had begun using drugs as early as his rookie season in the NFL. He has also stated that his first wife Linda, mother to his three children, once had to come pick him up from a crack house during his playing career.

In a November 2003 interview with Mike Wallace on the television news magazine 60 Minutes, Taylor claimed he hired and sent prostitutes to opponents' hotel rooms the night before a game in an attempt to tire them out, and that at his peak, he spent thousands of dollars a day on narcotics. He also recounted several other instances of aberrant behavior, including arriving to a team meeting during his playing career in handcuffs after spending a night with some call girls. He said, "A couple of ladies that were trying out some new equipment they had. You know? And I just happened to, and they just didn't happen to have the key.” He also said that to beat NFL drug tests he routinely submitted the urine of his teammates.