UNC football great Lawrence Taylor was arrested and charged with raping a 16-year-old girl early Thursday morning in New York's Rockland County.
Police charged him with third-degree rape and third-degree patronizing of a prostitute. They say the girl was a runaway who was brought to Taylor's hotel room against her will.
Taylor played for UNC from 1978-1981 and has since had his jersey retired by the program. He was drafted No. 2 overall in the 1981 NFL Draft out of North Carolina by the New York Giants and enjoyed one of the best careers of any linebacker to play the game.
But his playing days were marred by drugs, arrests and scandals. Recently, Taylor was quoted as saying he drank 41 Coors Lights on the night he was drafted.
He came back to Chapel Hill for the first time in nearly three decades when the Tar Heels played Florida State on Oct. 22 on national television. His return was viewed by some as a gesture that he would be more involved with the football program at UNC in the immediate future.
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