LT: Over the Edge : Tackling Quarterbacks, Drugs, and a World Beyond Football Book

"When I was on the field, I was Superman. It was almost like I operated on a higher plane: I knew what the offense was going to do, where the ball was going and how I was going to get it--and no one could stop me. But when I came off the field, something happened. LT became Lawrence Taylor and Lawrence Taylor was completely clueless. Like Clark Kent on crack."

Taylor's motto seemed to be live fast, perhaps die young, and leave a trail of battered quarterbacks in your wake. He was technically listed as an outside linebacker, but he was more like a force of nature. After being unleashed on the NFL in 1981, Taylor's unparalleled will and wildness spurred the New York, Giants to two Super Bowl tiles.

In 1986 he recorded a career-high 20-1/2 sacks and was the league's MVP, becoming the first defensive player to wind the award since 1971. Taylor didn't just play the game, he revolutionized it. He was 6'4" of athletic fury, fast enough to cover receivers, strong enough to bully offensive linemen, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And help any quarterbacks who got in his way. With his 142 sacks, LT ranks among the all-time leaders. He was voted to the Pro Bowl a record ten straight years.

He was insanely tough. He once suffered a concussion and the Giants trainer had to hide his helmet to keep him from going back into the game. He suffered a leg fracture in a game in 1987 and was back on the field in one week. He broke a bone in his foot in 1989 and missed only one game. And in 1988, with the aid of a harness, he played with torn shoulder ligaments and a detached pectoral muscle in a key game. He had seven tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles.

The wildness that made him a magnificent player often streaked into his personal life. He battled substance-abuse problems during and after his career, unable to bring his appetite for destruction under control. In 1985 he admitted to cocaine abuse and was suspended for 30 days in 1988 for failing a drug test. He came back from that to help the Giants win the Super Bowl in 1991. Not even Taylor could will himself to completely overcome a ruptured Achilles in 1992. He played one more season before retiring at the age of 34.

Free of the shackles of NFL's drug abuse policies, LT gave in to his addiction, in a wild ride of booze, cocaine and sex. He entered rehab twice in 1995. Then he was arrested two times in three years on charges he tried to buy cocaine. Getting out of the fast lane was difficult for aman who did everything at full speed.

After intensive therapy and rehab, by 1999, LT was finally clean and able to pull his life together. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.