While playing as a linebacker for the New York Giants, Lawrence Taylor (famously nicknamed LT) was a two-time Super Bowl winner and ten-time Pro Bowler known for his intensity, speed, and ability to take down quarterbacks, per the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Taylor played for the Giants for 13 seasons, from 1981 to 1993, and at the time of his retirement, the Pro Football Hall of Famer ended his career as one of the best in the game. Unfortunately, Taylor would delve into heavy drug use and would eventually end up losing most of the $50 million he made during his time as a pro football player, per Sportscasting.

According to Time, in 1987, Taylor once said: “Crazy as it seems, there is a real relationship between wild, reckless abandon off the field and being that way on the field.” During the late ’80s, Taylor’s drug use becoming widely known. In his 1987 Sport Magazine autobiography, “LT: Living on the Edge,” Taylor said he first used cocaine back in 1982 and eventually smoked crack three times a week, per Newsday. Taylor would end up getting arrested multiple times in the ’90s for several drug-related charges. The former New York Giants superstar would go on to spend thousands of dollars a day on drugs and prostitutes, a habit that would follow him, even up to his first attempt at another career after his football one was over, per Time.

Lawrence Taylor tries to pick up the pieces

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