 In contrast to his success on the football field , Taylor 's personal life has been marred by drug usage and controversy . When Taylor was once asked what he could do that no outside linebacker could , his answer was , " Drink " . However , alcohol abuse was not the largest of his substance abuse problems . After admitting to and testing positive for cocaine in 1987 , he was suspended from football for 30 days in 1988 after failing a second drug test . After his second positive test he gave up drugs for five years as a third positive test would have ended his career . As he approached retirement , however , he looked forward to picking up the habit again , saying in his second autobiography , " I saw blow as the only bright spot in my future . " After his retirement , he began abusing drugs on a regular basis . He went through drug rehab twice in 1995 , only to later be arrested twice over a three @-@ year span for attempting to buy cocaine from undercover police officers . During this period , he lived almost exclusively in his home with white sheets covering his windows and only associated with other drug users . Taylor later said , " I had gotten really bad . I mean my place was almost like a crack house . " In his second autobiography , Taylor admitted that he had begun using drugs as early as his rookie season in the NFL . He has also stated that his first wife , Linda , mother to his three children , once had to come pick him up from a crack house during his playing career . 
