Lawrence Taylor, perhaps the greatest defensive football player of all time, is returning to North Carolina this weekend for the Tar Heels’ game versus Georgia State, he tweeted Wednesday morning.
Carolina Coach Mack Brown said following practice Wednesday morning he tried to get Taylor to return two years ago when the Tar Heels hosted Miami, but it didn’t work out. So, he is thrilled to have a true football legend back on campus and around his team for this weekend.
“I just was told that this morning, I’m so excited that Lawrence is coming back,” Brown said. “I told the kids this morning at the 6:30 meeting, when I heard he was coming back, that he’s not only one of the greatest players to ever play here, he’s one of the greatest players to ever play.”
Taylor, who was an All-America at UNC in 1980, revolutionized the outside linebacker position in the NFL. In addition to winning two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, Taylor was a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time All-Pro, led the NFL in sacks in 1986, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His jersey number 56 with the Giants is retired as is his number 98 at UNC.
As a Tar Heel, Taylor was the ACC Player of the Year in 1980 and was named to the 50-year 50 Greatest ACC Players Ever team. In 1980, his senior season, Taylor set a UNC single-season record that still stands with 16 sacks. He finished with 21 career sacks, 33 tackles for a los of yardage (22 in 1980), 192 career tackles, an interception in 1979, and three fumble recoveries in 1980.
The Tar Heels’ last ACC championship came in Taylor’s final season, as the 1980 Heels went 11-1 overall and finished the season ranked No. 10 in the AP and No. 9 in the Coaches’ polls. Carolina won eight games two other times in Taylor’s career, at a time when teams played just 11 regular season games.
Some of his amazing NFL numbers: 184 games played, 132.5 sacks, nine interceptions, two touchdowns, 56 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, and a fumble returned for a score.
Taylor was retired before any of the current Tar Heels were born, so anything they’ve seen of him has been on tape, which they will get a healthy dose of Thursday morning in anticipation of a visit from “LT.”
“I’m going to check his schedule today and see what time he gets in and see if he can come and meet the kids, and I think that would be great,” Brown said. “And also the fact that Tomon Fox just broke his sack record, just went ahead of him to be the fifth all-time is really cool, too.
“But I’m going to show video of Lawrence to our team in the morning because a lot of those guys haven’t seen him play, and I want them to see what they’re going to meet when he gets here.”
Taylor is the only rookie ever named NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The last time Taylor was back at UNC for a game was a Thursday night contest versus Florida State in 2009.
