Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor says he still makes a lot of bad decisions.
In an interview with Showtime's "Inside the NFL," that aired Wednesday night, the former Giants linebacker says he has struggled with self-discipline.
"Nowadays, you guys are on 24-hours-a-day so everything that happens is actually exploited a little bit more or is blown up a little bit more and more people know about it," Taylor said in remarks released by Showtime. "So now you have to really discipline yourself. For years, I had no discipline. I could do what I wanted to do as far as playing in New York."
Taylor was sentenced in March to six years' probation under a deal to plead guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute. In November, he was sued by the teenage girl he admitted having sex with in the case that led to his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges earlier this year.
Cristina Fierro filed suit in federal court in New York. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial. Fierro was 16 when the crime occurred in May 2010. She made a statement outside his sentencing hearing in March saying he deserved jail time.
The Associated Press does not normally publish the name of accusers in sexual assault cases unless they agree to be named or identify themselves publicly, as Fierro has done.
Taylor said when he pleaded guilty that the girl told him she was 19. His attorney said Taylor "did not intend to patronize a prostitute who was under legal age."
"Regardless, if I asked her the question, I'm still responsible for that," Taylor said in the interview with Showtime. "And all I can do is just say, `Hey, you've got to learn from your experiences.' .That's one thing I've done. I've taken the long road on a lot of different things. I've taken the long road, you know like when I had my drug problem."
Taylor, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 and competed in ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" last year, had a highly publicized struggle with drug addiction and has had multiple legal run-ins since retiring from football.
"Because as easy as football is to me ... is as hard as life is to me," Taylor said. "I'm just hopeful that life will come easier."
