In his first comments since the L.T. scandal broke with the L.T.’s arrest for rape of a minor (a class 3 felony with a potential prison time of 4 years), John Mara had this to say (courtesy of espn.com and nypost.com): Giants owner John Mara yesterday called Lawrence Taylor’s arrest on rape charges “very sad and disheartening,” according to ESPN.com. Mara, speaking as the Giants and Jets ceremoniously sent their Super Bowl bid to the NFL, told reporters, “It is obviously very sad and disheartening. But beyond that, I don’t want to make any further statement on it.”
L.T.’s agent has publicly come out and said that L.T. has the support of the Giants organization, but as you could imagine, the Giants want to stay clear of this one for a while but remain supportive to an extent, kind of a nice tight-rope walking exercise for Mara and the team.
News came out yesterday which may help L.T. greatly (now, yes we love Taylor for what he accomplished on the field in blue, becoming a Hall of Famer, becoming a symbol of a Giants defensive era which is entrenched in history, and for being recognized as the best linebacker ever to play the game and quite possible the best defensive player in history). But we don’t excuse L.T., or anyone for that matter, for placing himself in a horrible situation, fur using terrible judgment, and for being involved in an incident which has led to felony charges which threaten his liberty, and rightfully so, if L.T. has done as alleged, than L.T. is in serious trouble.
With that being said, the New York Post has reported that a friend of the victim disclosed to her (the witness) that L.T. did not rape her, did not touch her, that she was not beaten by her pimp for anything relating to L.T. and speculation now arises that she has lied to the police and there are conflicting statements. Is L.T. off the hook? Not exactly, but if te report is true, L.T. will likely be looking at a much lesser charge and the allegation of “rape” might not be part of this situation moving forward.
And if L.T. paid this girl $300 so he could pleasure himself in front of her, but nothing else? Then what? Well, the legal process will play out, my guess is L.T. will not be spending much time on the inside of the cell, and the real issue is the gigantic hit to his reputation. But, there is a huge, perhaps Giant difference with allegations of rape and allegations of soliciting an escort who represented herself to be of legal age (ignorance of age is not a defense to rape of a minor but this only helps L.T. if he didn’t have sex with her which is what his attorney has said) and pleasuring oneself in front of the escort.
Is L.T. a pervert? Hard to say no at this point, but is he any more than a pervert than Jesse James, Tiger Woods, or any of the other high profile former athletes and celebrities involved in sex scandals (see Hugh Grant, Eddie Murphy and the list goes on). Again, a Giant difference between acting like a pervert and making very poor decisions and raping an underage prostitute. L.T. is in the wrong here for countless reasons, but it doesn’t mean he is a rapist.
Let’s not judge L.T. just yet. Stay Blue!
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/giants/lt_saga_is_very_sad_to_WCAtideOWJVpqfdmzfsCeO#ixzz0np1StT2Y