Lawrence Taylor puts his Super Bowl ring up for auction
(CBS News) On Wednesday, the New York Giants received their Super Bowl XLVI rings at Tiffany's in Manhattan.
Less than 24 hours later, Lawrence Taylor - one of the franchise's most iconic players and tragic figures - put his Super Bowl XXV ring up for auction. The Hall of Famer is apparently seeking between $75,000 and $100,000 for the piece of jewelry, according to CBSSports.com.
Billed as a "phenomenally important memento from one of the greatest football players of all-time," L.T.'s 1991 ring went up for sale Thursday on the SCP Auctions website. The size-12 ring features a pair of football-shaped diamonds surrounded by 17 smaller diamonds. Taylor's name is engraved on the interior band.
The website, which says the ring will be open for bids until Saturday, also notes that "the ring shows considerable wear, that in some eyes, only enhances it aura."
As of Thursday afternoon, the highest bid was over $67,000.
Taylor is hardly the first former NFL player to sell a Super Bowl ring. Last year, legendary punter Ray Guy was forced to auction off his three Super Bowl rings as part of a bankruptcy filing. Packers lineman Fuzzy Thurman and Bears defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry are also among NFL retirees forced to sell their Super Bowl rings for financial reasons.
But Taylor is certainly the most high-profile player to sell the iconic piece of jewelry. The 53-year-old Hall of Famer redefined the linebacker position on the gridiron in the 80s and early 90s with the Giants, and stayed in the spotlight after retirement, competing in "Dancing With the Stars" in 2009. But he has endured a highly publicized struggle with drug addiction and has had multiple legal run-ins since retiring from football in 1994.
Taylor pleaded guilty last year to sexual misconduct and patronizing a teenage prostitute. Two years before that, he was cuffed in Miami for leaving the scene of an accident after hitting another car. In 2000, he was arrested for tax evasion.
Earlier this year, Taylor sat down with James Brown and Cris Collinsworth on Showtime's Inside the NFL to discuss his struggles since leaving the NFL. The former linebacker said that he has a harder time navigating life than he did football.
"As a football player, I know everything about football, I mean as far as defense and stuff. I know what every player is supposed to do. I know where every player is supposed to be. I can see the play before it happens. I know where I'm supposed to be. I know how to manage a football game," Taylor said. "The problem with me is, sometimes, managing my life. Because I make a lot of bad decisions and that's the process that I'm going through now."