No. 7: Lawrence Taylor

*Publisher's note: THI is ranking the top 25 football players in UNC history, gauging each player solely on their careers as Tar Heels. NFL accomplishments do not factor into these rankings.

No. 7

Name: Lawrence Taylor

Position: DE/LB

Jersey #: 98

Years: 1977-80

Honors: First-Team All-America as a senior (unanimous); First-team All-ACC 1980; ACC Player of the Year 1980; Named to the 50-year 50 Greatest ACC Players Ever team.

Notable Stats: 16 sacks in 1980 (still UNC single-season record); 21 career sacks; 33 tackles for loss of yardage (22 in 1980); 192 career tackles at UNC; One interception in 1979; Three fumble recoveries in 1980.

In Closing: After playing on special teams as a freshman and an injury-plagued sophomore campaign, Taylor was a pretty good player as a junior, exploding midway through the season, but he really took off as a senior in 1980. He didn’t even play football until his junior year in high school, so he had to learn the game when he arrived and didn’t play his first season and not a lot in his second. But by the time he was a senior, Taylor had become one of the best defensive players in the nation with a knack for making big plays.

His 16 sacks in 1980 remain a single-season school record. Those sacks totaled 157 yards lost by opponents. His tackle of Clemson QB Homer Jordan inside the 10-yard-line saving the game for the Tar Heels and ending a seven-game losing streak in Death Valley is still one of the most memorable defensive plays in school history. But he also made a game-saving play in the win earlier that season over Texas Tech.

UNC’s last ACC championship came in 1980, and Taylor was an enormous part of that success. After not doing much until his junior season, Taylor’s last year at UNC was one of the greatest seasons in school history.