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UNC Football: Lawrence Taylor selected No. 1 in all-time NFL draft

By Zack Pearson

Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor poses for his University of North Carolina headshot in 1980. The New York Giants selected Taylor second in the 1981 NFL Draft and he played 13 years with the team. (Photo by University of North Carolina/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor poses for his University of North Carolina headshot in 1980. The New York Giants selected Taylor second in the 1981 NFL Draft and he played 13 years with the team. (Photo by University of North Carolina/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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Lawrence Taylor is picked No. 1 overall in a all-time NFL Draft done by MMQB

It’s still the offseason for the NFL but teams will be heading to training camp next week, bringing us one step closer to the 2017 season.

To help get fans ready the Monday Morning Quarterback decided to do an all-time NFL Draft, selecting the top players in NFL history. The site’s creator, Peter King, had the idea and ran with it.

The rules were simple: There are 25 rounds and each team consists of 11 players on offense, 11 players on defense, a punter, a kicker and a wild card player at any position.

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Participants included former general managers, coaches, players and current NFL writers.

Joel Bussert who spent 40 years as the NFL’s vice president of player personnel was awarded the first overall pick and he decided to select a former UNC player.

Bussert selected Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor with the No. 1 overall pick.

Here’s his reasoning:

“For me it was a no-brainer,” Bussert said. “Because even before the order came out, I said if I have a chance to get LT, I am going to take him. When you talk about the greatest defensive player, it’s almost always LT.”

Taylor spent three seasons at UNC, earning the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year award in 1980. He was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.

From there, the rest is history.

Taylor was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1981. He went on to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award three times in his career.

In 13 seasons he finished with 132.5 sacks, 1,089 tackles and 9 interceptions. That’s not counting the 9.5 sacks he had in his rookie season but the NFL didn’t start counting sacks as a stat until 1982.

Taylor was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and is regarded as not only one of the best linebackers in history, but one of the best players in NFL history.

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