Fansided

15 best college football players we wish played in the Twitter era

By Sean Watterson

Jan 08, 2007; Glendale, AZ, USA; The Ohio State Buckeyes against the Florida Gators TIM TEBOW in the BCS National Championship Game at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The Gators defeated the Buckeyes 41-14. (Photo by Jay Drowns/Sporting News via Getty Images)
Jan 08, 2007; Glendale, AZ, USA; The Ohio State Buckeyes against the Florida Gators TIM TEBOW in the BCS National Championship Game at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The Gators defeated the Buckeyes 41-14. (Photo by Jay Drowns/Sporting News via Getty Images) /
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14. Best college football players before Twitter: Lawrence Taylor, OLB, North Carolina

Have you ever seen a shark or whale breaching to swallow unsuspecting prey swimming at the surface of the ocean? That’s what it looked like when Lawrence Taylor was about to sack a quarterback. His arms shoot out as wide as a Cadillac and then he swallows his prey whole. Check out his college tape from UNC.

LT is probably the greatest defensive player to ever suit up. He makes Bill Belichick geek out like he’s breaking down punt coverages. When he was on the field, everyone knew exactly where he was, and if they didn’t, LT made sure they knew.

On top of being a freak of nature, Taylor has a mind for football. He knew what every position on defense was doing on every play, and he had a sixth sense for knowing what the offense was about to do. His coaches might have plans for him but would often just sit back and let him cook. That even extended to team meetings, where he might show up late or hungover.

His mind and skills alone make him a social media dream, but LT is also hilarious. In the clip for the NFL All 100 Team, he shares a story about talking to Ron Jaworski before the snap. Jaws says, “What?” Then LT, “Never mind, I’ll tell you when I get back there.”

Perfection.

Imagine this: Taylor is in his Junior season at UNC. We’ve been treated to a breakout sophomore season, where LT recorded 95 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, five sacks and an incredible seven forced fumbles. We know we’re about to watch a physical force. A terror is about to be unleashed on the ACC and college football at large. Fire up your emojis. We’re gonna go nuts in 1980.

LT’s final year at Chapel Hill, he recorded 22 tackles for a loss, swallowing quarterbacks alive on 16 of those. He forced three fumbles on top of that for good measure. Then he got drafted second overall behind a running back. Each and every sack he landed for the Giants could be tweeted to the Saints as a reminder of who they passed on.

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