I know he's not just the greatest defensive player of all time, but the greatest player period! Then I watch this video & all I keep saying is "Holy Shit" over & over again. As was said above, that was his motor, no speeding up of the video! He was a one man wrecking crew, being double/triple teamed every play & it didn't matter. The absolute, indisputable greatest of all time!
of LT highlights. I found a clip in a Redskin game where they triple teamed him. Clearly deliberate triple team. I will concede that someone is better than LT when I see a triple team.
to watch his entire career. I also had another interesting perspective. My seats were right behind the visitor bench. I could hear everything the opposing team was saying because the bench in the old stadium was a lot closer to row 1 than in the new stadium.
Basically, the other teams were arguing about what they were going to do about stopping LT. Then, when that was not enough, we were taunting the opposing QBs telling them that when they go back into the game that LT was literally going to rip their heads off. You should have seen the scared looks we got in return. They really thought it was a possibility.
There would be some penalties called for some of what he did, but he could have adjusted his style a little and the outcomes would have been the same from a football perspective. Basically one blocker had no chance of stopping him and two blockers had only some chance of stopping him, but not much.
Amazingly, he may have been at his best his first year...1981
In part because other teams didn't have any idea how to block him.
I was at the game when they beat the Cowboys in OT to get into the play-offs for the first time in my Giant fan life. In fact, my father, who had season tix starting at the Polo Grounds, took my brother and me to SF for the game against the 49'ers, after the Giants had upset the Eagles.
Man, was he fun to watch that year.... and in subsequent years, of course.
There were a lot of very good players on The Giants in those days. Team, Team, Team!
You are absolutely right, and all of them benefited from the double, and triple coverage that LT had thrown at him.
But that's not news to anyone, all of us old guys saw it.
Yep, Leonard Marshall should thank LT every day. Playing DE in front of LT made his career.
My youngest football memories are him just dominating and playing at a different speed than everyone else. He was immediately my favorite player and the Giants were my team from there on out.
I don't think they necessarily should have won another ring but they should have been a regular playoff team from '84 thru '93. Instead missed several years. A surprising amount of under-performing years for a team that was good enough to win 2 Lombardis.
What's not shown in the video is that you could't run the ball away from him either. I remember teams trying to run the ball to the right and thinking they didn't have to block the backside only to see LT flying down the line of scrimmage to tackle the RB across the field...amazing.
can you imagine if the stars aligned and the giants had reggie white on the other side as was almost the case?
they would have been in their primes in the pre-free agency period too, so would have had maybe 10 years of sheer horror for opposing offenses. you would need to run a jumbo package every play just to keep your QB/RB out of the hospital.
No videos there of him running down running backs from behind
or playing with a separated shoulder and making a game saving interception. He also played on a broken ankle. The man's pain tolerance was incredible. Today's players sit out for a stubbed toe. There will NEVER be another LT.
It has been alluded to already but it's really incredible how much the game has changed. He would have been called for taunting penalties on about 75% of those sacks, he also would have been called for blows to the head, unnecessary roughness, etc..
He was the greatest defensive player of all time. not before and not after has there been such a combination of speed, strength, quickness, and athletic ability. Plus, his football instincts were off the charts. He was the most dominating force I've ever witnessed on the football field. It didn't matter where he lined up (weak side, strong side, inside, 2 pt. stance, 3 pt stance) or if he engaged an OL, TE, RB, double team of any combination. He always looked like he was shot out of a cannon and was able to toss any of them aside like rag dolls. He was truly a dynamic and incredible player. Plus, for someone who seemed so disinterested in practice, etc. he really knew the game, the playbook, and was an intensely competitive player.
No videos there of him running down running backs from behind
or playing with a separated shoulder and making a game saving interception. He also played on a broken ankle. The man's pain tolerance was incredible. Today's players sit out for a stubbed toe. There will NEVER be another LT.
1) He was so good you expected him to make a play every down
2) The highlight reels don't even do him justice. they are just about all QB hits. But, early in his career, he was excellent in coverage and you couldn't run at him or away from him. He routinely ran down RBs on the other end of the field or down the LOS.
In 1980, we finished 4-12...the defense gave up 425 points.....it didn't look any better for 1981....17 straight years not making the playoffs...
Until the Saints drafted George Rodgers....and LT fell into our lap.....we knew he was good...just didn't know how good....
To see the speed and power he had that rookie season, was unreal.....no one had ever come into the league and had an impact on a defense like that....the defense gave up 168 less points that year....we had a winning record, and made the playoffs.....as a Giant fan, you had to be there to see it, and believe it....after all the years of frustrations, the Giants had finally turned the corner....
a tortured soul. He makes mistakes. He drinks...and acts like an idiot.
But this isn't about that nor should it be really. You want morals look elsewhere. LT was a joy to watch...he played the game with a ferocity and speed that no one will match.
The Giants as a franchise have conducted themselves as well or better than any other NFL franchise. They aren't perfect and some of their players weren't perfect human beings, to say the least. But the Giants don't owe any explanations. And ANY team going gladly employs LT for the duration.
So just be happy the best defensive player ever played for big blue...that's my take. Part of what made LT who he is was on the field is also his biggest detriment off the field.
I feel blessed to have seen this guy play in every game and I am not gonna sit here and lament that the Giants didn't win enough super bowls. They won 2...and one of them was by inches. Shut up and take it.
The reason the Giants failed in 1989 isn't as much as what they did on Sunday but the players they lost to injury that season. Mainly, Mark Bavaro. If he's healthy the Giants are playing the Niners for the NFC title in my view.
And don't act like the Giants just walked into the stick and beat arguably the best team of the modern era. That would have taken a herculean effort and then some. The 90 niners were good, but not 89 good.
Great vids...these are new. I never saw some of those clips of LT going nuts on the sidelines.
when the USFL shutdown, George Young choose OT Zimmerman who turned out to be a great tackle, but he had already let it be known he didnt want to play in NY, so he got traded for 2 #2 picks to Denver. Parcells was begging Young to draft Reggie White. He should have listened! Can you imagine? Kills me every time I thing about it. We probably would have 3-peated! Reggie White was in the same class as LT.
LT finished with 132.5 sacks credited. The NFL did not track them during LT's rookie season in 1981. Did anyone ever go back and figure what that number was based on films?
LT finished with 132.5 sacks credited. The NFL did not track them during LT's rookie season in 1981. Did anyone ever go back and figure what that number was based on films?
Is that right? The 90 niners were outstanding. IIRC many thought this was their best year of the three. They had two inexplicable losses - to the lowly Rams and to the Saints. Clearly they were caught off guard those two games. It's true that their 14-2 record included some really, really close games. The Redskins had no answer for them in the playoffs when the niners were able to win by 18.
That 90 niners defense was really underrated. Ten of their 18 games played they held their opponents under 14 points.
I think the 89 team was outstanding, no questions about it. The most impressive thing about that team was how they were playing at the end of the year, including shutting out Chicago in a blowout victory at the end and then steamrolling through the playoffs, winning by 28, 27 and 45 points.
Just the same it is not clear that the difference between the 89 and 90 team was so great either way that the Giants couldn't have had a good shot against them in 89, imo.
Especially against the Giants. 89 niners were disgustingly good while the 90 niners had one fatal flaw that Erik Howard so wonderfully exposed in the last minutes of the 90 NFC title game.
While that's true don't think for a second he wasn't the best player by a lot every game he played
Basically, the other teams were arguing about what they were going to do about stopping LT. Then, when that was not enough, we were taunting the opposing QBs telling them that when they go back into the game that LT was literally going to rip their heads off. You should have seen the scared looks we got in return. They really thought it was a possibility.
I was at the game when they beat the Cowboys in OT to get into the play-offs for the first time in my Giant fan life. In fact, my father, who had season tix starting at the Polo Grounds, took my brother and me to SF for the game against the 49'ers, after the Giants had upset the Eagles.
Man, was he fun to watch that year.... and in subsequent years, of course.
Quote:
There were a lot of very good players on The Giants in those days. Team, Team, Team!
You are absolutely right, and all of them benefited from the double, and triple coverage that LT had thrown at him.
But that's not news to anyone, all of us old guys saw it.
Yep, Leonard Marshall should thank LT every day. Playing DE in front of LT made his career.
My youngest football memories are him just dominating and playing at a different speed than everyone else. He was immediately my favorite player and the Giants were my team from there on out.
Maybe that's why I don't watch anywhere near as much football any more.
But LT is such a tragic, despicable figure off the field, it really dampens my view of his on the field genius.
I didn't expect he'd be Roger Staubach, but at least someone who you could admire to some degree. Instead, there is nothing to admire...
The 91 Eagles were really good and the Cowboys became even better by '93 IMO.
And the award for most bizarre reaction to an LT thread goes to...
That was otherworldly play that you won't see again. End of story.
can you imagine if the stars aligned and the giants had reggie white on the other side as was almost the case?
they would have been in their primes in the pre-free agency period too, so would have had maybe 10 years of sheer horror for opposing offenses. you would need to run a jumbo package every play just to keep your QB/RB out of the hospital.
or playing with a separated shoulder and making a game saving interception. He also played on a broken ankle. The man's pain tolerance was incredible. Today's players sit out for a stubbed toe. There will NEVER be another LT.
The glory days of football have long gone.
or playing with a separated shoulder and making a game saving interception. He also played on a broken ankle. The man's pain tolerance was incredible. Today's players sit out for a stubbed toe. There will NEVER be another LT.
Yes there were. Watch it again
Just NEVER gets old!
I love the panic in the body language of the QB's that see him coming.
2) The highlight reels don't even do him justice. they are just about all QB hits. But, early in his career, he was excellent in coverage and you couldn't run at him or away from him. He routinely ran down RBs on the other end of the field or down the LOS.
Until the Saints drafted George Rodgers....and LT fell into our lap.....we knew he was good...just didn't know how good....
To see the speed and power he had that rookie season, was unreal.....no one had ever come into the league and had an impact on a defense like that....the defense gave up 168 less points that year....we had a winning record, and made the playoffs.....as a Giant fan, you had to be there to see it, and believe it....after all the years of frustrations, the Giants had finally turned the corner....
LT-1988 vs Saints (Greatest Individual Game Performance of Alltime) - ( New Window )
Guys this good are one in a million. There will never be another LT.
But this isn't about that nor should it be really. You want morals look elsewhere. LT was a joy to watch...he played the game with a ferocity and speed that no one will match.
The Giants as a franchise have conducted themselves as well or better than any other NFL franchise. They aren't perfect and some of their players weren't perfect human beings, to say the least. But the Giants don't owe any explanations. And ANY team going gladly employs LT for the duration.
So just be happy the best defensive player ever played for big blue...that's my take. Part of what made LT who he is was on the field is also his biggest detriment off the field.
I feel blessed to have seen this guy play in every game and I am not gonna sit here and lament that the Giants didn't win enough super bowls. They won 2...and one of them was by inches. Shut up and take it.
The reason the Giants failed in 1989 isn't as much as what they did on Sunday but the players they lost to injury that season. Mainly, Mark Bavaro. If he's healthy the Giants are playing the Niners for the NFC title in my view.
And don't act like the Giants just walked into the stick and beat arguably the best team of the modern era. That would have taken a herculean effort and then some. The 90 niners were good, but not 89 good.
Great vids...these are new. I never saw some of those clips of LT going nuts on the sidelines.
He had 9.5 unofficial sacks in 1981.
LT wikipedia - ( New Window )
Is that right? The 90 niners were outstanding. IIRC many thought this was their best year of the three. They had two inexplicable losses - to the lowly Rams and to the Saints. Clearly they were caught off guard those two games. It's true that their 14-2 record included some really, really close games. The Redskins had no answer for them in the playoffs when the niners were able to win by 18.
That 90 niners defense was really underrated. Ten of their 18 games played they held their opponents under 14 points.
I think the 89 team was outstanding, no questions about it. The most impressive thing about that team was how they were playing at the end of the year, including shutting out Chicago in a blowout victory at the end and then steamrolling through the playoffs, winning by 28, 27 and 45 points.
Just the same it is not clear that the difference between the 89 and 90 team was so great either way that the Giants couldn't have had a good shot against them in 89, imo.