tional Perspective. Lanham, Md.: University Press of
America, 2005.
Peters, B. Guy.The Politics of Taxation. Cambridge,
England: Blackwell, 1991.
Patrick Fisher
See also Congress, U.S.; Economic Recovery Tax
Act of 1981; Reagan, Ronald.
Taylor, Lawrence
Identification NFL Hall of Fame linebacker
Born February 4, 1959; Williamsburg, Virginia
Taylor, better known as LT, was perhaps the NFL’s best de-
fensive player during the 1980’s.
Lawrence Taylor played for only one team, the New
York Giants, during his career in the National Foot-
ball League (NFL). He was an outside linebacker
and was best known for sacking quarterbacks. Taylor
recorded a total of 132.5 sacks, and at the time of his
retirement, only one other player had more. One of
Taylor’s sacks is best remembered because its impact
ended the career of a rival player. During aMonday
Night Footballgame in 1985, Taylor raced past a
Washington Redskins offensive lineman, turned,
and jumped, in an effort to tackle quarterback Joe
Theismann. Once he made the tackle, he immedi-
ately got up and frantically waved to the Redskins’
bench, indicating that Theismann was hurt. The
quarterback’s right leg was badly broken, and he
never played again. The image of Taylor—his inten-
sity known to everyone—desperate to get help for an
injured player was a lasting one for those who re-
membered the play.
Taylor’s successes on the field were sadly matched
by terrible mistakes off it. He later admitted that by
his second year in the NFL he was already addicted
to cocaine. In 1988, he was suspended for thirty daysThe Eighties in America Taylor, Lawrence 945
New York Giants Lawrence Taylor, right, and George Martin smash into Tampa Bay Buccaneer Steve DeBerg, forcing him to fumble, dur-
ing a Giants home game in September, 1984.(AP/Wide World Photos)