LT: The Life & Times

I watched LT: The Life & Times on Showtime and it made an impact. Lawrence wants his kids to know one thing about him and it’s, “LT was a bad motherfucker.” The man is considered by the likes of Bill Bellicheck and Bill Parcells as the “greatest defensive player of all time.” The inside scoop on his personal life was even more fascinating because he grew larger than life and then fell from such great heights. Sort of reminded me of OJ.

No one can take anything away from his football career. He went to the pro bowl 10 times, he was defensive player of the year 3 times, and was MVP during the 86′ season. His 132.5 sacks put him #9 on the all time sacks list. With all of these accolades, it’s not suprising that Lawrence was propelled into a world that he could never have dreamed of. After he retired in 93′ (he said he actually retired 3 years earlier when Parcells left the team), he turned to narcotics and began a bumpy ride.

“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.”

Lawrence became addicted to golf which was the exact same thing that happened to OJ. He had a stint on the WWF when he wrestled Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania. He was the kind of guy who would do anything for money and I’d imagine it’s because he had expensive habits. There was a great interview by Jim Nance (I couldn’t get the footage on youtube) asking if Lawrence was in good health. He took offense to the question and responded that he was fine and then went on some wild man rant that could only have been said by someone using drugs. These were some really dark years for Lawrence and he went to rehab for 60 days and I think he’s been sober for 15 years now. Although, he did have an incident where he was looking to get a hooker and the one arrived said she was over 18 and she ended up being 16. He was charged with rape. Who can blame the guy for that? The documentary ended where it seemed like he got his life almost together but a guy like that can snap at anytime. He even adopted a 7 year old boy and golfs with him on the reg. If you have 2 hours I’d definitely recommend it.

LT’s Best Friend