- Taylor said he was a lifelong Democrat until he met the former president.
- In addition to Taylor, retired Giants running back Ottis Anderson also attended.
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Lawrence Taylor was a lifelong Democrat. And then the Hall of Fame linebacker met Donald Trump.
“I just wanted to say that I grew up a Democrat and I’ve always been a Democrat until I met this man right here,” Taylor, 65, told Trump supporters at a campaign event along the Jersey Shore on Saturday. . “You won’t have to worry about anyone in my family voting for a Democrat again.”
Taylor is a beloved figure in New Jersey, where he helped lead the East Rutherford-based New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl titles during his decorated (and troubled) NFL career.
It’s unclear when he and Trump first met, although the real estate mogul owned a USFL team in the 1980s that shared a stadium with Taylor’s New York Giants.
Taylor was joined on stage by his former teammate, retired running back Otis Anderson.
Taylor (in maroon) is pictured alongside Trump and former Giants teammate Ottis Anderson.
Former NFL football player Lawrence Taylor arrives at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Wildwood Beach on Saturday.
‘Don’t you love that boy?’ Anderson asked, referring to Trump. ‘Don’t you love that boy? I tell you that it has been a very exciting day. Guys, there’s not a single person left here. You’re still here screaming and yelling.
Taylor’s endorsement comes with a bit of controversy, though Trump didn’t seem to mind on Saturday.
The pass rusher extraordinaire has battled personal issues off the football field, both during and after his career, which ended in 1993. In a 1995 incident, the retired Taylor strangled veteran Giants reporter Ernie Palladino after of a verbal altercation.
In addition to numerous drug-related arrests, the former University of North Carolina star filed for bankruptcy in 1998 and has spent at least two stints in drug rehab. She was also arrested following a 2009 hit-and-run accident in the Miami area, although no one was injured.
Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, speaks on Saturday
He was arrested the following year and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct and sex with an underage prostitute. He received a sentence of six years of probation, but was ultimately arrested in 2022 for failing to report a change of address.
Taylor remained in the public eye after her retirement, appearing on ABC’s ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in 2009 and starring alongside Al Pacino in ‘Any Given Sunday’ in 1999.
Taylor, an avid golfer, has been hosted at several of Trump’s country clubs and appeared on the company’s Facebook page alongside Anderson at Mar-a-Lago in 2021.
Trump’s ‘Fabulous World of Golf,’ a Golf Channel show that ran for two seasons, included an episode with Taylor and San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice.
