He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was selected in the fourth round of the 1981 NFL draft Lawrence was raised in the Diggs Park housing project in Norfolk, Virginia.
[1] Lawrence was selected by the San Diego Chargers out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fourth round of the 1981 NFL draft.
[2] On September 10, 1981, Lawrence was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a fourth round pick in the 1984 NFL draft.
Lawrence joined the Pittsburgh Maulers in 1984 but was cut from the team after Mike Rozier was signed.
[3] After his professional career ended, Lawrence returned to Norfolk, where he worked bused tables and sorted newspapers, among other odd jobs.