Virginia-native, Bruce Smith, might hold the all-time reacord amount of sacks, but that still isn't a big enough accolade to pass up Lawence Taylor as the NFL's greatest player to hail from the Mother of States. With Lawernce Taylor being the greatest defensive football player the world has ever seen, of course he was going to make the list. Watching old clips of Taylor brings goosebumps to many football purists while it brings nightmares and PTSD to his former NFL alumni and gratefulness to current NFL o-linemen and quarterbacks. Taylor's All-American football career at the University of North Carolina led hom to become the 2nd overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft.
Throughout his thirteen-season Hall of Fame NFL career, Taylor started 180 out of the 184 games he played. The 10x Pro Bowler, 9x First Team All-Pro outside linebacker redefined how linebackers were utilized around the league. Taylor also was the anchor of the team's defense during their two Super Bowl victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV. With three Defensive Player of the Year Awards and one NFL MVP (1986) under his belt, these accolades don't define how much he means to the game of football. Regardless of his personal struggles, LT will forever be one of the NFL's greatest athletes to play the game.