The Blind Side

Lewis recounts a play he calls a turning point in football strategy. On Nov. 18, 1985, New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacked Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann. Theismann’s tibia and fibula broke so violently that the bones jutted out of his skin and blood spurted from the wound like a geyser. The play ended Theismann’s career. Taylor came at Theismann from his left side. Right-handed quarterbacks, Theismann included, cannot see players coming at them from the left side, called their “blind side,” and must rely on their offensive line, especially their tackle, to stop marauding linebackers (9). 

When Taylor entered the league, statisticians did not record sacks. Taylor took such evident delight in sacking quarterbacks and did it so effectively that sacks became noteworthy. He was “a new kind of athlete doing a new kind of thing,” and he made an immediate impact on the Giants when they drafted him (13). Bill Parcells, head coach of the Giants at the time, believed Taylor became great because he “expected more of himself on the field than any coach would dare to ask of any player” (15). Taylor inspired fear in his opponents. Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jerry Sisemore, who played against Taylor twice per season, told The New York Times, in regard to Taylor: “Towards the middle of the week something would come over you and you’d just start sweating” (12).