[1][2][3][4][5] After an All-American career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1978–1981), Taylor was selected by the Giants second overall in the 1981 NFL draft.

Taylor was a key member of the Giants' defense, nicknamed the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew", that led New York to victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

During the 1980s Taylor, Carl Banks, Gary Reasons, Brad Van Pelt, Brian Kelley, Pepper Johnson, and Hall of Famer Harry Carson earned the Giants linebacking corps a reputation as one of the best in the NFL, along with the nickname "Crunch Bunch".

[12] After graduating from Lafayette High School in 1977,[13] Taylor attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a team captain,[14] and wore No.

"As a freshman playing on special teams, he'd jump a good six or seven feet in the air to block a punt, then land on the back of his neck", said North Carolina assistant coach Bobby Cale.

[19] Giants GM George Young predicted before the draft that he would be better than NFL legends such as Dick Butkus: "Taylor is the best college linebacker I've ever seen.

[23][27] Years after facing him in an exhibition game, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw recalled, "[h]e dang-near killed me, I just kept saying, 'Who is this guy?'

"[28] Taylor developed what has been described as a "love-hate relationship" with Bill Parcells, the Giants’ defensive coordinator when he was drafted and later their head coach.

Aside from incurring a penalty for a late hit on Eagles running back Perry Harrington, Taylor played a nondescript game.

Leading up to the 1983 season, Taylor engaged in a training camp holdout that lasted three weeks and ended when he came back to the team under his old contract with three games left in the preseason.

Taylor was forced to play inside linebacker for part of the season, a position which allowed him fewer pass rushing opportunities, when Carson was injured.

[43] Taylor was given a $1 million interest-free, 25-year loan by Generals owner Donald Trump on December 14, 1983, with the provision that he begin playing in the USFL in 1988.

[55] He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated alone the week leading up to Super Bowl XXI with a warning from the magazine to the Denver Broncos regarding Taylor.

[55] Taylor made a key touchdown preventing tackle on a goal line play in the first half, stopping Broncos quarterback John Elway as he sprinted out on a rollout.

He tested positive for cocaine and was suspended by the league for thirty days, as it was his second violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

In a crucial late-season game with playoff implications against the New Orleans Saints, Taylor played through a torn pectoral muscle to record seven tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles.

[38] He was forced to play the latter portion of the season with a fractured tibia, suffered in a 34–24 loss to the 49ers in week 12, which caused him to sit out the second half of several games.

[72] He signed a three-year $5 million contract (making him the highest paid defensive player in the league[73]) just four days before the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

[74] He finished with 10.5 sacks and earned his 10th Pro Bowl in as many years, although the season marked the first time in Taylor's career that he was not selected First-team All-Pro.

The Giants won 15–13,[75] after Taylor beat two successive blocks by 49ers tight end Brent Jones and fullback Tom Rathman to get into the 49ers offensive backfield to be in position to recover a key fumble by Roger Craig forced by nose tackle Erik Howard late in the game to set up Matt Bahr's game-winning field goal.

[82] Taylor returned for the 1993 season enticed by the chance to play with a new coach (Dan Reeves),[83] and determined not to end his career due to an injury.

[90] Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs developed the two tight end offense and the position of H-back to prevent Taylor from blitzing into the backfield unhindered.

[92] The tactic employed by San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh in the 1982 playoffs, using an offensive guard to block Taylor, was copied around the league.

In addition to the changes in offensive schemes Taylor influenced, he also introduced new defensive techniques to the game, such as chopping the ball out of a quarterback's hands (to potentially force a more valuable turnover) rather than simply tackling him for a loss.

For me, crazy as it seems, there is a real relationship between wild, reckless abandon off the field and being that way on the field.Taylor began using illicit drugs during his professional rookie season, 1981–1982.

Simms recalled, "[a]ll of a sudden it kind of hit me, I've put Lawrence in a really tough spot; national TV, he's got dress shoes and a sports jacket on, and he's had a few beers and he's going to run down the field and I'm going to throw him a pass.

[106] He also acted in the 2000 Christian film Mercy Streets with Eric Roberts and Stacy Keach, and the 2003 prison movie In Hell with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

[102] He had already committed the same offense in 1996 when he totaled his Lexus in a one-car accident and left the scene, saying he did not think the law required the reporting of a single driver incident.

Taylor was sentenced to six years probation as part of a plea agreement, in which he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors of sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute.

[129] The next month, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol following a September 2, 2016, crash into a stopped police car in Palm Beach County, Florida.