NFL No-No's

Back to his old antics - Two big no-no's took place recently regarding two NFL defensemen, one former and one current. It was learned several weeks ago that Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested on rape charges after police raided a Holiday Inn hotel and found the 51 year old Taylor with a 16 year old run away female prostitute. According to the girl who was paid $300 for sex, she was dropped off at Taylor's hotel in up-state New York and was struck by her pimp. Taylor faces numerous charges such as third-degree statutory rape which is a felony and third-degree patronizing. Both of which are related to the girl being a minor. The rape charge carries a maximum of 4 years in prison and the prostitution charge carries a maximum of 1 year in jail.

While Taylor's bail is set at $75,000 and his preliminary hearing is set to take place on June 10th, Taylor's attorney says he denies all charges. However, he's not the only one being convicted as a second man, 36 year old Rasheed Davis, was arrested on charges of unlawful imprisonment, assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Police say Davis drove the girl to Taylor's hotel and told her she had to have sex with him. Police went on to say Taylor cooperated with officials and that he was not intoxicated as no drugs or alcohol were found in his hotel. Police gained knowledge of the girl's whereabouts when she began sending text messages to her uncle who later called and sent for the police.

Shockingly, this isn't Taylor's first run in with the law or controversy. Drinking played a huge role in his party lifestyle, but his obsession with crack cocaine would do a brunt of the damage. LT failed a number of drug tests in 1987 before later checking into rehab, only to be arrested twice over a three-year span for attempting to buy cocaine from undercover officers. Taylor also claims he would hire and send prostitutes to opponents' hotel rooms the night before a game in attempt to tire them out. LT was also arrested in November of 2009 for fleeing the scene of a car accident.

Taylor, who's married and has three children, was once upon a time the most feared defeseman in the entire NFL and is often regarded as the greatest defensive player of all-time. The 10-time Pro Bowl LB who spent his entire 13 year NFL career with the New York Giants, was named a First-Team All-Pro on nine separate occasions from 1981-89 and a Second-Team All-Pro once in 1990. Taylor won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year Awards along with one MVP Award and helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowl Championships before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and having his number retired. With everything that's been going on and continuing to deteriorate what's left of Lawrence Taylor's public image, I doubt we'll be seeing him on ABC's 'Dancing With The Stars' or those Nutrisystem ads anytime soon...


Cushing's failed test - Maybe not as severe as rape charges, Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing will be suspended for the first 4 games of the 2010 NFL season for testing positive for having elevated levels of hCg in his system. The hormone was detected in a drug test in September of 2009 and violates the NFL's performance-enhancing substance policy. Cushing, the winner of last season's Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, was in danger of having the award stripped away by the AP. But after a revote, the former USC Trojan received the most votes again, retaining his award. Aside from earning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors, Cushing was also named a starter to the 2009 Pro-Bowl and was an All-Rookie Selection.