In the weeks leading up to the draft, former EDGE rusher Abdul Carter began to express his admiration for the greatest Giant of them all, Lawrence Taylor.
Carter posted photos of LT on his social media accounts and even went on the record saying Taylor was “the greatest of all time.”
With Carter already having experience of dealing with the prestige of a number at Penn State with the No. 11, Carter figured that Taylor may be open to unretiring his No. 56.
Taylor had other ideas.
“He has to be the player that he is,” Taylor told ESPN in a phone conversation. “He can’t be another Lawrence Taylor. Well, he may be better than a Lawrence Taylor, who knows. But he has to make his mark. It’s up to him.”
“And I’m hoping that he’s not thinking that, ‘Oh, I got shot down by LT. No, it isn’t like that, man.’ It’s, ‘Hey, I’m with you!’ I mean, I’m the guy that it takes two. I’m going to be two steps behind you and make sure you don’t fall.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Carter took it with stride, posting on X, “The worst thing he could say was NO!! My stance don’t change, LT is the nothing but respect… This just gonna make me work even harder!! I love it.”
“I haven’t met him yet, but I feel like eventually I will,” Carter said earlier. “But he’s the greatest football player of all time, somebody I look up to. Just want to follow in his footsteps, knowing how great he was. I just want to chase greatness, and knowing that he was the best, that’s what I want to chase. But I didn’t say it like, ‘I want to be better than Lawrence Taylor.’ That’s more me looking up to him, inspired to be like him.”
Taylor offered advice for the incoming third overall pick with high expectations.
“I know he would love to wear that number, but hey, I think it’s retired. Get another number, I don’t care if it’s double zero, and then make it famous,” Taylor told the New York Post.
