Filed under: News
Although the public is well aware of the underage sex charge against former NFL great Lawrence Taylor (pictured), most people are not familiar with the man who allegedly made it all happen.
Rasheed Davis, 37, has finally pleaded guilty to pimping a 16-year-old girl to Taylor. Davis has agreed to give back the $300 Taylor paid to him and may also face more than eight years in prison.
"I knew what I was doing was against the law," Davis said to the judge in Manhattan Federal Court. "It was my intent to seek some financial gain."
Davis, who is a high school dropout, has also agreed to give up the Mercedes Benz that he used to drive the girl to the hotel. For his role in the scandal, Taylor received six years probation and must also register as a sex offender. The young girl's attorney, Gloria Allred, seems determined to keep the case open in the media.
"We look forward to representing her as she continues her fight for justice," Allred told the Associated Press. "[Taylor] should be in the hall of shame, not the Hall of Fame."
The Lawrence Taylor underage sex scandal grabbed headlines, but the public was hardly surprised by the allegations. Taylor had been known for being an NFL bad boy long before he ever found his way into this precarious situation. What's been most interesting is that the public has put much of the responsibility for this debacle on Taylor alone without considering the involvement of other parties. The truth, however, is that there were others who played a role in this incident, namely Rasheed Davis.
This issue has been sad for Taylor primarily because he'd spent years working to repair his image in the eyes of the American public. Most interesting is that quite a few athletes are caught in difficult situations due to poor choices, and many profit from those poor decisions.
Shortly after I wrote about the Taylor scandal, I received a call from a woman who told me a detailed story about women (some of whom are underage) who seek to extort money from athletes by using date rape drugs and fake IDs. While we can't speak specifically on what happened to Taylor, the bottom line is that those in the public eye must practice extra caution and discretion in their personal lives.
I have a feeling that Lawrence Taylor won't be the only black athlete I write about this month who experiences an interesting personal problem. Far too many former athletes end up broke, in jail or on drugs. Unfortunately, efforts to modify the culture of the pro athlete continue to fall on deaf ears.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. To follow Dr. Boyce on Facebook, please click here.
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