{"id":115653,"date":"2024-04-29T15:25:47","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T15:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=115653"},"modified":"2024-04-29T15:26:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T15:26:06","slug":"giants-bill-belichick-lauds-lawrence-taylor-as-the-one-exception-to-his-rookie-rule-nguyensa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/giants-bill-belichick-lauds-lawrence-taylor-as-the-one-exception-to-his-rookie-rule-nguyensa\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants: Bill Belichick lauds Lawrence Taylor as the \u201cone exception\u201d to his rookie rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jan<\/p>\n

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Former\u00a0Ne<\/a>w York Giants\u00a0defensive coordinator and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick developed a reputation for being one of the best talent evaluators in NFL history, and that was due in part to a particular rule he held fast to when assessing rookie talent.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Belichick held players by a tight leash upon entering the league. By his own admission, he\u2019d come to his conclusion on whether a player was a bust or not within their first or second year in the NFL. However, for former Giants Defensive Player of the Year Lawrence Taylor, his reservations were proven true from day one, as he told Pat McAfee on the April 18 airing of\u00a0The Pat McAfee Show:<\/p>\n

\u201cLawrence Taylor was a different story. Lawrence Taylor from day one impacted the team, showed he was the best player on the field, way better than everyone else and [we] built a defense around him from that point going forward,\u201d\u00a0Belichick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usually not day one of his rookie year. I would say Lawrence Taylor would be the one exception to that rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sep
Sep 22, 1985; E. Rutherford, NJ, USA; FILE PHOTO; New York Giants Linebacker (56) LAWRENCE TAYLOR pressures St. Louis Cardinals quarterback (15) NEIL LOMAX at Giants Stadium. The Giants defeated the Cardinals 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Giants legend Lawrence Taylor was the one exception to Bill Belichick\u2019s rookie rule even over Tom Brady<\/h2>\n

Taylor is regarded by many as the greatest football player of all time. However, another Belichick product, Tom Brady, gained favor over him after winning seven Super Bowls and six with the 72-year-old.<\/p>\n

Belichick acknowledged such before honoring Taylor, who did a number on the league from day one. The North Carolina product became the first rookie to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award when he did so in 1981.<\/p>\n

His 9.5 sacks and one interception impressed. While the standout linebacker did not finish in the top 10 in MVP voting that year, Taylor clearly possessed the full package. He\u2019d win another DPOY the next year, followed up by an MVP in 1986. He capped off his career by leading\u00a0the Giants\u00a0to wins in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.<\/p>\n

\"New
Aug 11, 2022; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks the sideline at a preseason game against the New York Giants during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Belichick\u2019s rap sheet as a talent evaluator stands out<\/h2>\n

His output proved him to be an exception to Belichick\u2019s rule, but when looking at the players under his leadership once at the helm of a franchise\u2019s coaching and front office ranks, late bloomers were few and far between.<\/p>\n

Whether it was safety Devin McCourty bringing down seven interceptions as a rookie or running back Damien Harris emerging in his second year after a slow rookie campaign, one would be hard-pressed to find a player that burst onto the scene past Belichick\u2019s time frame.<\/p>\n

Yet to his credit, Taylor\u2019s rookie year stands in a class of its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Former\u00a0New York Giants\u00a0defensive coordinator and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick developed a reputation for being one of the best talent evaluators… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":115654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115655,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115653\/revisions\/115655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}