Fred Taylor

Frederick Antwon Taylor was born on January 27, 1976, in Pahokee, Florida and is currently a running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team.

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. His high school team won the state title in 1988.

College career
Fred Taylor starred in college from 1994-1997 at the University of Florida. 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 still able to establish himself as one of the country's elite running backs, rushing for 1292 yards his senior year, including a 162 yard, four touchdown performance against the number one ranked rushing defense in a 32-29 upset of Florida State.

Professional Career
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. He developed into one of the NFL’s top backs in his rookie season and has since become arguably the most accomplished player in the history of the Jaguars.

Early Troubles
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", 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, Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin listed him on the injury report as "questionable" every game for the remainder of the season, further fueling the doubts of Taylor's toughness in the minds of fans.

That year, Taylor's woes transcended his physical problems and quickly became personal and financial. It was revealed following the 2001 season that Taylor's agent William "Tank" Black had stolen between $12 million and $14 million from players he had represented, the majority of whom 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. In an interview with Vic Ketchman of Jaguars.com in November 2007, Taylor admitted that he had seriously considered retiring from football early in his career because of the difficulties he had experienced with injuries and Black.

Career Accomplishments
Taylor recovered 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. On November 11, 2007, against the Tennessee Titans, Taylor became the 21st rusher in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards in a career. He finished the 2007 season 17th in career rushing yards.

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, 2006 and 2007). As a rookie in 1998 he set 29 team records and now holds over 30 team records including: career rushing yards (10,715), yards from scrimmage (12,978), and touchdowns (69); single-season rushing yards (1,572 in 2003), yards from scrimmage (1,942 in 2003), and touchdowns (17 in 1998); and single-game yards rushing (234). 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, tied with Randy Moss' output in 1998. Taylor received the second-most votes for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year that season, behind only 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. He led the league that year in yards rushing per game (107.6). 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 run in a single game in NFL history, and it remains the most ever at Three Rivers Stadium. Coincidentally, Taylor also set the record for most rushing yards (157) at Heinz Field on December 16, 2007 in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. As of the 2007 season, his 4.7 career yards per carry average ranks 3rd all-time, behind only Jim Brown and Barry Sanders and his 85.5 rushing yards per game average is 6th all-time. Ahead of him are Jim Brown (104.3), Barry Sanders (99.8), Edgerrin James (92.9), Roger Craig (90.8) and Walter Payton (88.0).

2007 Season
Taylor captured much of the fame in the 2007 season that had eluded him his whole career. He had long been ignored nationally and maligned in Jacksonville for his frequency of injuries. Much of the recognition began once he broke 10,000 career rushing yards against the Titans. It continued the remainder of the year as he concluded the season with a string of impressive games. Taylor finished the 2007 season ranked fifth in the AFC in rushing with 1,202 yards on 223 carries and led the AFC with a 5.4 average per rush. He tied for first in the NFL with four rushes of 50-plus yards and finished with two of the four longest rushes in the NFL this season. He ranked fourth in the NFL with 36 rushes of 10-plus yards. Taylor rushed for 100-plus yards in five consecutive games to close out the regular season, the only player to record five games in succession of 100 yards or more in 2007. It was the second-longest such series in his career, behind only that of his 2000 season.

Taylor won AFC Offensive Player of the Month honors for his accomplishments in December. On January 31, 2008 he was named the FEDEX Ground Player of the Year.

Fred Taylor participated in the 2008 Pro Bowl after being selected as the first alternate at running back for the second consecutive year. He replaced Willie Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It marked Taylor’s first Pro Bowl appearance in his 10-year career. He was the first Jaguars offensive player to make the Pro Bowl since Jimmy Smith was named a starter in 2001.

Career stats

 * As of December 23, 2007

Personal
Taylor is a second cousin of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes. Both scored a touchdown in the 2007 AFC wildcard game, the Jaguars defeated the Steelers 31-29.