Getty New York Giants' great Lawrence Taylor has a better take on the modern NFL than Tom Brady.
Lawrence Taylor’s take on today’s NFL is more nuanced than Tom Brady’s rant about so-called “mediocrity.”
Modern rules wouldn’t have suited Taylor, but arguably the greatest player in the history of the New York Giants told Brady critics can’t complain if they want improved player safety.
Speaking on the “Let’s Go!” podcast with Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray (h/t CBS Sports’ Shanna McCarriston), Taylor gave a multi-layered answer when discussing the state of the present-day game.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
Offense vs. Defense
@TomBrady sits down with @LT_56
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LT said, “The game has changed a little bit, you know? Just a couple weeks ago I saw a running back, (D’Andre Swift), get fined for trucking. What the hell is trucking? He got fined for running over the (defensive back). I don’t understand that.
“The game has changed a little bit. I like the era that I played in because if I was playing nowadays, I probably wouldn’t last the game.”
Taylor, who won two Super Bowls with the Giants as a game-changing outside linebacker, anticipates he would have plenty to pay in fines if he was still playing in 2023: “It’d been hard for me to play. I may have ended the season owing them money.”
Up to this point, it was a pretty standard response from anybody who began playing before 2020. Yet, things took a more interesting turn when Taylor expanded his answer.
While he’s no fan of a less physical game, the Hall of Famer said those who complain miss the point: “The simple truth is that no one can have it both ways. Fans and players can’t advocate for player safety in one breath and then, in the other, complain that football has gotten soft.”
Lawrence Taylor Has More Nuanced Take Than Tom Brady
Brady, who won seven Super Bowls as a quarterback with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, blamed new rules for “bad habits” entering game performance.
Back on November 20, the 46-year-old spoke out against what he sees as “a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL,” during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL” – @TomBrady
Brady referenced legendary defensive players Ray Lewis, Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott. All three were heavy hitters, although the mention of Lott was strange since Brady didn’t play in the same era.
Nonetheless, Brady believes “every hit they would have made would have been a penalty.” Brady thinks the onus is on offensive players “to protect themselves,” rather than having their protection “regulated” by the rules.
It was a blunt take from Brady, especially since some felt he may have benefited from protection at times during his illustrious career.
A notably contentious call occurred during his final season in 2022 when Atlanta Falcons nose tackle Grady Jarrett was flagged for roughing the passer after sacking Brady on third down at Raymond James Stadium.
refs called this roughing the passer on 3rd down and i genuinely do not know what Grady Jarrett could have done differently
When asked for his thoughts on the penalty, Brady simply replied, “I don’t throw the flags,” per Fox 5 Sports’ Justin Felder.
Brady might believe the game is worse if it’s less physical, but Taylor’s take offers the right rebuttal. As he put it, there’s ultimately a choice, and if so, player safety should win every time.
It’s a balancing act for the NFL to ensure players aren’t susceptible to being hit in the head or needless injuries, without changing the way the game is played. The game evolves, something Taylor knows better than anybody since he helped change the way it was played for the better.
Lawrence Taylor Changed the Game
Selected No. 2 overall in the 1981 NFL draft, Taylor almost instantly transformed his position. The change was aptly described by Joe Posnanski in Esquire back in February:
“Taylor became, essentially, the first pass-rushing linebacker in the NFL. The blitz had been around for 40 or so years, but it had been designed to overload offensive lines. Taylor was a one-man blitz.”
Former Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers edge-rusher Dee Ford summed up Taylor’s legacy when he told NFL Network in 2019, “He redefined the whole position of outside linebacker.”
No. 17: @ProFootballHOF Lawrence Taylor @LT_56
“He redefined the whole position of outside linebacker.”
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Taylor was well-known as a ferocious player, but his impact had less to do with how hard he hit. It owed more to how he used his athletic gifts to make outside linebacker a glamour position and forced offenses to play a different game.
Today’s game is different from the one Taylor changed, but it will still produce its own legends within the confines of new rules.