Patriots legends rip Giants' Abdul Carter over Lawrence Taylor number request

As noted by ESPN, New York Giants rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter recently struck out in his attempts to bring either Lawrence Taylor's No. 56 or Phil Simms' No. 11 jerseys out of retirement. 

During the latest edition of the "Dudes on Dudes" podcast, New England Patriots franchise icons Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman ripped Carter regarding his desire to wear one of the uniform numbers previously retired by the Giants. 

"Was he serious, asking for LT’s number? Yeah, you were a high draft pick, but LT is an absolute legend," Gronkowski said while speaking about the third overall pick of this year's draft, per Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital and Bridget Hyland of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "The best to do it, one of the best defenders of all time, and let me tell you brother, like, you gotta prove yourself. That’s crazy, just asking for LT’s number, and I’m glad that LT shut him down like that."

Specifically, Taylor encouraged Carter to "get another number" and "then make it famous." Meanwhile, Simms told longtime New York sports writer Gary Myers that "he was outvoted by his family" as it pertains to letting Carter wear No. 11. 

"That was such a LT response," Edelman said about how Taylor reacted to Carter's request. "'Go make your own freaking number, kid.'" 

Simms and Taylor earned a pair of Super Bowl rings each while playing for the Giants. Eli Manning and not Simms is now the most accomplished quarterback in franchise history, while many still see Taylor as the greatest defensive player to ever compete in the NFL.

Long before Gronkowski and Edelman accumulated multiple Super Bowl rings playing under former New England head coach Bill Belichick, Belichick helped the Giants win a pair of world championships while serving as an assistant and as defensive coordinator with the organization from 1979 through the 1990 season. During the podcast, Edelman asked Gronkowski how Belichick would've handled Carter wanting to wear a No. 56 Big Blue jersey on game days.

"'Nope, no buddy. There’s one LT and you’re not LT. You’re not even close to being LT. So, how about you just get the [expletive] out of my office and get in your playbook because you haven’t done s— yet,'" Gronkowski said while impersonating Belichick.

Just last summer, then-Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers received permission from the family of Hall of Famer Ray Flaherty to wear Flaherty’s retired No. 1. That situation sparked some interesting sports-talk radio conversations among Giants fans, but it appears Carter will have to find his own number at some point between now and Week 1.