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OTA LEADERSHIP INDEX

Lawrence Taylor

ARCHETYPE

The Disruptor

Contrarian and drawn to the edge; challenges the settled answer.

Lawrence Taylor is The Disruptor in its purest football form, a player who forced the entire NFL to adapt around him rather than the reverse. He invented strip-sack technique, defied coaching direction, and bent defensive frameworks to his instincts while still winning inside them. Confronting Parcells, dismissing Belichick's appointment, sleeping through film sessions yet reciting every player's assignment, his rule-breaking was never rebellion for its own sake. It was mastery expressed on his own terms.

IN THEIR WORDS, WHY DISRUPTOR

I invented the stripping the ball because I said, if I'm going to tackle you, you still got another play. But if I tackle you and I stripped that ball, guess what, it ain't George no more.

EXPLAINING HIS INNOVATION ON DEFENSE

You can trade me, you can cut me, you can put John Scorpan back at linebacker. I don't care. But you've got to stay off my ass because I can't work like that.

CONFRONTING PARCELLS IN ROOKIE YEAR

Only person I don't know what the hell is going is me. Because I want to do what I wanted, what I feel. But I gotta stay within the framework of the defense.

ON HIS INSTINCT-BASED PLAYING STYLE

ALL THE SMOKE

All The Smoke: “Lawrence Taylor: The Man Who Changed Football | ALL THE SMOKE”

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Lawrence's full six-dimension Leadership Index profile is held pending their validation. The archetype shown is the OTA analyst-rated read. How we read a leader →

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