Fred Taylor (football player)
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| Fred Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | January 27, 1976 (age 31) |
| Place of birth |  Pahokee, Florida |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | University of Florida |
| NFL Draft | 1998 / Round 1 / Pick 9 |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1998-present | Jacksonville Jaguars |
Frederick Antwon Taylor (born January 27, 1976, in Pahokee, Florida) is a running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team.
Contents |
[edit] High school career
Taylor attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida and won an All-League honors in football as a running back.
[edit] Collegiate career
Fred Taylor starred in college from 1994-1997 at the University of Florida, where he was the school's most productive running back since Errict Rhett. In Taylor's junior year, he rushed for two touchdowns in the team's 1996 National Championship victory over Florida State. And, despite playing in Steve Spurrier's heavily pass-oriented offense, Taylor was able to establish himself as one of the country's elite running backs, rushing for 1292 yards his senior year.
[edit] Professional career
Fred Taylor was drafted ninth overall in the 1998 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the first of two picks they acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Bills in exchange for quarterback Rob Johnson. Taylor developed into one of the NFL’s top backs in his rookie season, leading all rookies in rushing with 1223 yards and scoring 17 touchdowns.
Taylor fell on hard times early in his professional career as a rash of injuries caused him to miss 23 out of a potential 48 games from 1999 to 2001. Fans and media were highly critical of Taylor's tendency to get injured, questioning his toughness and donning him the moniker "Fragile Fred", and "Glass Taylor" which deeply upset him, as he would later admit. Fans grew especially frustrated with Taylor in 2001 after his season ended in week 2 with a torn groin muscle. Despite knowing that Taylor's season was over, former Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin listed him on the injury report as "questionable" every game for the remainder of the season, adding credence in the minds of fans to their doubts about Taylor's toughness. He still has not completely rid himself of the stigma and the nickname. It was also revealed following the 2001 season that Taylor's agent William "Tank" Black had stolen between $12 million and $14 million from players whom he had represented, the majority of which were University of Florida alumni, and that Black had laundered nearly all of Taylor's $5 million signing bonus, the only guaranteed money in his rookie contract.[citation needed]
Taylor would recover to play the entire 2002 and 2003 seasons and miss only the final 2 games of the 2004 season, rushing for over 1200 yards each year.
Despite the injury problems, Taylor has enjoyed an illustrious career as one of the NFL's premier running backs. He is the only 1,000-yard rusher in Jaguars history (1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006). In 1998 he set 29 team records and now holds over 30 team records. His 14 rushing touchdowns in 1998 ranks third all-time in NFL history for a rookie running back, and his 17 total touchdowns also qualifies for third-most by a rookie, tying him with Randy Moss. In 1999 Taylor set the NFL postseason record for the longest touchdown run (90 yards). The following year, despite being hobbled early in the season, Taylor recorded nine consecutive 100-yard games, which is the third-longest streak ever, only behind Barry Sanders' and Marcus Allen's respective streaks of 14 and 11. On November 12, 2000 Taylor rushed for 234 yards and four touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the time it was the 12th-most yards in a single game in NFL history, and it remains the most ever at Three Rivers Stadium. Taylor became the 22nd player in NFL history with 9000 career rushing yards during the Jaguars game against the Tennessee Titans on November 5, 2006. His 4.6 career yards per carry average ranks 5th all-time, behind only Jim Brown, Sanders, O.J. Simpson, and Tiki Barber, and his 85.5 rushing yards per game average is 6th all-time. Ahead of him are Brown (104.3), Sanders (99.8), Edgerrin James (92.9), Roger Craig (90.8) and Walter Payton (88.0).
Yet despite his accomplishments on the field, his candidacy for the NFL Hall of Fame following his career will likely be marred by his "Fragile" reputation and his having never been selected to the Pro Bowl, which is likely due to playing his entire career for one of the league's smallest market teams.
On March 1, 2007 Taylor inked a contract extension to keep him in Jacksonville through 2010, which he plans to be the year he retires. The contract is the fifth highest in the league at his position. He is currently the Jaguars starting running back.
[edit] Trivia
Taylor is the second cousin of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Natrone Means |
Jacksonville Jaguars Starting Running Backs 1998-current |
Succeeded by current |
