How Lawrence Taylor leveraged Donald Trump’s offer into $6,200,000 Giants deal

Donald Trump might be running for President again but there was a time when Lawrence Taylor was his muse. The New York Giants great was on his radar when the former President of the United States was involved with the USFL.

The story of how Donald Trump courted Lawrence Taylor is one for the ages. It involved approach, flirtation, backtracking and both parties gaining their share of the pie.

Lawrence Taylor was drafted by the New York Giants in the 1981 NFL draft as the second overall pick. If there was ever a premier pick well spent, it has to be that, as he became the cornerstone of future Giants' successes over the next decade.

The outside linebacker got to work straight away winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in his rookie season in 1981 and followed that up with another gong in 1982.

However, as good as the defender was for his team, the franchise itself was seemingly not going anywhere. In 1983, they finished with a 3-12-1 record and finished fifth in the NFC East. It was their worst performance since 1976 and they did not make the postseason.

Lawrence Taylor was not happy with how things were going and Donald Trump sniffed an opportunity. At that time, he was involved with the New Jersey Generals in the USFL. If the upstart league had managed to get one of the biggest NFL stars, Donald Trump knew it could change the face of the franchise and USFL.

Accordingly, he made him an offer. He gave the defender a contract of $1 million as a 25-year, interest-free loan, a huge sum of money in those times. The NFL star agreed to it and suppressed any second thoughts.

But those doubts eventually crept up on the player and he tried to back out of the deal. However, he used the situation to his advantage in his dealings with the New York Giants. The franchise was afraid that they were going to lose their star player and, therefore, were willing to come to the negotiation table.

Eventually, he used the leverage to get a six-year $6 million deal with the New York Giants. However, since Lawrence Taylor was reneging on his initial agreement with Donald Trump, the NFL franchise had to foot the bill there as well and return the $1 million interest-free loan to him. The franchise also agreed to pay the USFL owner $750,000 over a five-year period to avoid any complications.

In the negotiation between Lawrence Taylor and Donald Trump, it was somehow the New York Giants that ended up paying out.

Lawrence Taylor and Donald Trump both failed to make the most of the opportunity financially

Staying with the New York Giants did not harm Lawrence Taylor in the slightest. The franchise would improve and capture a Super Bowl at the end of the 1986 NFL season, in which the defender would win his third Defensive Player of the Year Award and also be named MVP.

He would also win another ring with the team in 1990 and managed to rake in $50 million over his entire NFL career.

But he had developed a cocaine habit while in the NFL and it would follow him after his career. He has had problems with other investments and had to file for bankruptcy to ensure he did not lose his house. In 1997, he was sentenced for tax evasion, further underscoring the perilous situation of his finances.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump filed for his first bankruptcy in 1991 for Trump Taj Mahal and has subsequently filed for three more under Chapter 11 in 1992, 2004 and 2009. It is fair to say that for both the player and one-time USFL owner, the windfall from the Giants did not translate to future financial certainty.