Lawrence Taylor’s sad message to Carl Banks as they watched Giants in horror

A couple of Giants legends were ready to suit up Sunday as they had a close-up look at the current team embarrassing itself in a 28-6 loss to the Vikings.

Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor were two of the Giants greats being honored during Week 1 as the team celebrates its 100th year as a franchise.

Banks revealed, alongside co-host Bob Papa, on his “Bleav in Giants” podcast that Taylor was ready to throw some pads on.

“I can tell you when we were lining up to be introduced as the top 100 players, a guy who never really comments on games because he doesn’t watch many of them was Lawrence Taylor. He looked at me and — this is a true story, folks. If you want to know what we [the 100 greatest Giants] were thinking at halftime,” Banks said.

“Lawrence looked at me at halftime and said, ‘Carl, I could pick 22 of us right now and go out and play better than these guys. We’d be in this game.’ The youngest guy in that line was probably 50 years old. Lawrence Taylor looked at me and said, ‘I can get 22 of us right now and go out there right now and whoop these guys’ ass.’”

Taylor was No. 1 on the Giants top 100 list while Banks ranked 17th, as both linebackers were a part of the team’s Super Bowl XXI and XXV victories.

The Giants are far removed from a franchise that won four NFL championships and four Super Bowls in its first 99 seasons to become one of the proudest organizations in the NFL.

The Giants have one playoff victory since winning their Super Bowl in 2012 and are on their fifth head coach since parting ways with Tom Coughlin in 2015.

Brian Daboll took over before the 2022 season and appeared to be the answer, leading the team to a surprising playoff berth and wild-card win over the Vikings.

However, the team went 6-11 last season and 2024 feels destined to be a disappointment after getting destroyed by backup quarterback Sam Darnold and Minnesota.

This loss stings even more for the Giants since Banks noted that the Vikings are a team “in their weight class” that they should be able to compete with.

“To start your season off looking the way you did on both sides of the ball … you look like you’re stuck in 2023,” Banks said.

Banks also called out the leadership of top 2022 draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux, whom he expects to take control of the defense.

Thibodeaux shut down a reporter attempting to ask a question about the lack of pass rush, with Thibodeaux and big offseason acquisition Brian Burns being erased Sunday.

“When you have players in the locker room say, ‘They did exactly what we thought they were going to do,’ that’s even more insulting. That’s what you gave the fans? It’s just not good enough,” Banks said.

The Giants have a chance to right the ship against rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders in Week 2, who looked equally overmatched in their debut against the Buccaneers.