The player the New York Giants are hoping will be their next great edge-rusher isn’t about to sulk after not getting what he wanted from the greatest player in franchise history. Instead, 2025 NFL draft third-overall pick Abdul Carter made a promise to his new team after some blunt words from two-time Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.
Carter might have wanted to wear the No. 56 shirt made famous in Giants blue, but LT is having none of that idea. The second pick in the 1981 draft who revolutionised a position and changed the fortunes of Big Blue for the better told the New York Post’s Steve Serby, “I know he would love to wear that number, but hey, I think it’s retired. Get another number, I don’t care if it’s double zero, and then make it famous.”
In the process, Taylor wouldn’t do what the family of another franchise great did for the team’s top pick last year. When the son of prolific Giants flanker and 1934 NFL champion Ray Flaherty allowed his father’s No. 1 jersey to be taken out of retirement for Malik Nabers.
To his credit, Carter is taking the knock-back from Taylor in his stride. The former Penn State standout posted on ‘X,’ “The worst thing he could say was NO!! My stance don’t change, LT is the GOAT nothing but respect… This just gonna make me work even harder!! I love it.”
That’s a mature response the Giants will surely welcome from a rookie expected to make his own transformative impact for a talented, but underachieving defense. In that sense, there are similarities between the situation Carter is entering and the one Taylor joined over four decades ago.
Abdul Carter Entering A Similar Situation to LT With the Giants
Taylor became a member of a team in full rebuild mode after 17 years without a playoff berth. He also entered a defense with more than a few solid pieces, especially along the front seven.
That’s where defensive end George Martin and Canton-bound middle linebacker Harry Carson plied their respective trades. The Giants also had linebackers Brad Van Pelt and Brian Kelley.
Carter will see a healthy amount of talent waiting for him with today’s Giants. Disruptive players like fellow edge-rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Both had words of welcome for Carter on opening night of the draft. Thibodeaux, who could lose his starting role to the new arrival, posted, “Yeah we going crazzyyy!!!! ז”
Meanwhile, Burns offered his own call to work for his new teammate, “Congrats 11, Let’s get to work woe!”
The enthusiasm of Burns and Thibodeaux is understandable because they recognize the opportunity Carter’s arrival presents the Giants. Namely, to field the most dominant pass rush in football when the game-wrecking skills of All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II are also factored into the mix.
It will be Carter who ignites this group into something special. The way Taylor once did for the Giants.
Lawrence Taylor’s Rookie Campaign the Standard for Giants Newest Star
Taylor was a force of nature as a rookie. He was too powerful for running backs and tight ends to block on the edge, and too fast and explosive for most offensive tackles around the league.
Those qualities made Taylor something close to new in football, or as NFL Legacy put it, “a man who changed the game.”
He became a special weapon who kicked the preferred 3-4 schemes of then-defensive coordinator and future head coach Bill Parcells, as well as assistant Bill Belichick, up a notch.
The Giants went from 4-12 to 9-7 and earned a playoff victory over Carter’s now former favorite team, NFC East rivals the Philadelphia Eagles, while Taylor made history. He was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, per The 33rd Team’s Marcus Mosher.
Taylor is the toughest act to follow, but no high-profile Giants edge-rusher can avoid the comparison. Carter is one of the most qualified to try and emulate LT, but he’ll do it without adorning the famous 56 jersey.
Abdul Carter Makes Promise to Giants After Lawrence Taylor Snub