Sports

Agent helps throw birthday bash for Lawrence Taylor

The Lawrence Taylor 56th private birthday celebration Wednesday night at Catch’s Rooftop will include former teammates from the Super Bowl XXI and XX Giants and “other very relevant individuals,” according to longtime friend, agent and representative Mark Lepselter.

For Lepselter, MAXX Sports & Entertainment president, it was an idea he and LT friend and attorney Arthur Aidala hatched several months ago to recognize No. 56 turning 56 last Wednesday.

“I don’t think there’s any professional athlete in recent memory more synonymous with a jersey number than Lawrence Taylor with the number 56,” Lepselter told The Rumble. “Good, bad or indifferent, he’s led a remarkable life. He is the most compelling individual that I’ve ever been around. This was something I wanted to be a part of for him to be celebrated by those people closest to him. That was important to me.”

Lepselter first met Taylor 25 years ago, right before LT opened a restaurant that bore his initials in East Rutherford. Lepselter was the restaurant manager.

“He and I have just always shared a very unique relationship,” Lepselter said.

They lost touch from 1992-97, before Lepselter worked out the deal with Oliver Stone’s people for LT to appear in “Any Given Sunday.”

“I was able to get him the audition with Oliver down at the TriBeCa Film Center in October of ’98, and he moved to Miami and never left after he filmed the movie down there,” Lepselter said. “That was a pivotal moment for both of us.”

Their story has been one of turbulence, triumph and near-tragedy, and above all else, loyalty.

“My life and times with Lawrence Taylor have been some of the most rewarding aspects of my life over the last 25 years,” Lepselter said. “There’s been some tough times, man, but we always stuck together.
“It’s been a remarkable journey.”

Lepselter is expecting a few hundred people to honor LT at the perfect spot — not too far away from West 56th Street.

“Great venue, great vibe in the heart of the Meatpacking District,” Lepselter said.

N.J. academy gets NFL hopefuls ready for Combine

Over the past 18 years, Kevin Dunn has become one of the nation’s top trainers in terms of preparing college prospects for the NFL Draft. But for someone known to — by choice — fling himself from great heights, this is just another way to perfect how a body moves in motion.

Kevin Dunn of the TEST Football Academy in Martinsville, N.J., helps NFL Draft prospect Mark Glowninski during a workout.TESTFootballAcademy.com

A former champion diver at Rutgers, Dunn is now the CEO of TEST Football Academy and TEST Sports Clubs in Martinsville, N.J. Growing up, Dunn was a mulit-sport athlete for eight years (football, baseball and swimming) and by high school transitioned to one sport, springboard diving. Having studied movement and biomechanics during a 10-year diving career, Dunn has earned a vast perspective on perfecting efficient movement patterns to help prepare young athletes for the NFL Combine and their Pro Days.

Dunn’s resume includes the pre-NFL Draft training for the likes of Patrick Peterson, Joe Flacco, Zach Mettenberger, and Chris Matthews (yes, that Chris Matthews from the Super Bowl).

“Football is a sport that is by nature random and chaotic. This is the first time in a players career they are being asked to perform predetermined drills,” Dunn told The Rumble. “They have the questions to the test before they take it. They come to us to study the right answers and to peak at the biggest job interview of their life.”

His love is to break down form and teach football players how to be better athletes.

“This will be the longest, most grueling interview process they will ever go through,” Dunn said of the process leading up to the Combine. “They need to channel the adrenaline felt on their big day, stay loose and implement what they’ve been trained to do for the past six weeks.”

Mets about to get warmed up

No matter what the thermometer reads Tuesday morning at Citi Field, it will automatically feel a lot warmer. That’s because the Mets’ equipment truck will be heading south to Port St. Lucie for the start of spring training.

The truck will be filled with uniforms, bats, balls and other assorted materials to ready manager Terry Collins’ team for its first pitchers and catchers workout on Feb. 21. The full team will be in the field on Feb. 26.

“It’s a great atmosphere down here already,” Collins said. “Guys have been here working out since early January. I can’t wait for camp to officially get started.”

The Mets open their preseason March 4 against the Braves at Disney World. The Mets’ first home game is March 6 vs. the Tigers.

For spring ticket information, go to stluciemets.com or call (772) 871-2115.