Billy Taylor (American football)
Encyclopedia
William "Billy" Taylor, Ed. D. is a former professional American
and Canadian football
running back
who played for Calgary Stampeders
of the Canadian Football League
after starring for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
. At Michigan, he became an All-American and broke the school record for career rushing
yardage and finished second to Tom Harmon
in scoring.
, Taylor spent his early years in Memphis, Tennessee
until his father's death in 1954 when Taylor was five years old. His mother moved the family to Barberton, Ohio
. After graduating from high school, Taylor attended the University of Michigan
where he became one of the most accomplished football players in school history. He was an All-Big Ten selection three times and a first team All-Big Ten selection two times (1969 and 1970).
Taylor broke the Michigan career rushing record with 3,072 yards in three seasons. His record was broken six years later by Rob Lytle
.
His 587 carries was also a school record at the time he graduated. He finished his U-M career second to Tom Harmon
with 32 career touchdowns and 194 points. He also set the school record in average rushing yards per game at 102 yards per game. He rushed for 1,297 yards in his senior season (1971) and was selected as the team MVP. In the last two minutes of the 1971 Michigan-Ohio State game, Michigan was trailing, 7-3, when Bo Schembechler
called Taylor’s number. Taylor ran around the end and into the end zone, and Michigan won to cap an undefeated regular season. “It was every kid’s dream,” says Taylor, remembering what it was like to score the winning touchdown.http://www.thegoal.com/events/backontop/backontop.html During Taylor's years they had excellent offensive linemen such as Dan Dierdorf
, Reggie McKenzie
, and Jim Mandich
. Taylor was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 1971 Michigan football team that went undefeated in the regular season (but lost 13-12 to Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl
game). The team was ranked in the top 5 all season and had four All-Americans.
Although Taylor played in 33 games at Michigan he only carried the ball in 30 of them. His 3072 yards in 30 games gives him a 102.3 yards/game average which was a Michigan average until Mike Hart
established a new standard in his career ending in 2007.
In 1969, Taylor rushed for 225 yards against the University of Iowa
. At that time, Ron Johnson was the only Michigan player who had rushed for more yards in a game.
Taylor was selected by the Atlanta Falcons
in the fifth round of the 1971 NFL Draft, but he had a poor training camp with the Falcons. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, put on injured reserve, and finally cut. After a season with the Calgary Stampeders
in the Canadian Football League
where he played in two games and totaled 62 yards rushing on seven carries, three reception
s for 27 yards and three kickoff returns for 59 yards, his football career was over.
Taylor went into a downward spiral that lasted 25 years. “I self-medicated”, says Taylor. Taylor managed to get his Masters in Education, get married and have three children, but he suffered from depression, divorced his wife, became isolated from his children, and eventually became homeless. He hit a low when he was convicted for having knowledge of a bank robbery and spent 2½ years in a federal penitentiary. He became an addict living on the streets of Detroit, cut off from friends and family.
He stopped drinking and taking drugs that day and published a book about his experience called "Get Back Up: The Billy Taylor Story." In 2003, Taylor received an Ed. D. degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
. He has held several positions at the Community College of Southern Nevada
. Most recently, Taylor was the Director of Rehabilitation Services for the Salvation Army
Southeast Michigan working in Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
who played for Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
after starring for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
. At Michigan, he became an All-American and broke the school record for career rushing
Rush (American football)
Rushing has two different meanings in gridiron football .-Offense:The first is an action taken by the offensive team that means to advance the ball by running, as opposed to passing. A run is technically any play that does not involve a forward pass...
yardage and finished second to Tom Harmon
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
in scoring.
University of Michigan
Born in Hoxie, ArkansasHoxie, Arkansas
Hoxie is a city in Lawrence County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,817 at the 2000 census. Hoxie lies immediately south of Walnut Ridge.-Geography:Hoxie is located at ....
, Taylor spent his early years in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
until his father's death in 1954 when Taylor was five years old. His mother moved the family to Barberton, Ohio
Barberton, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,899 people, 11,523 households, and 7,443 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,095.2 people per square mile . There were 12,163 housing units at an average density of 1,349.4 per square mile...
. After graduating from high school, Taylor attended the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
where he became one of the most accomplished football players in school history. He was an All-Big Ten selection three times and a first team All-Big Ten selection two times (1969 and 1970).
Taylor broke the Michigan career rushing record with 3,072 yards in three seasons. His record was broken six years later by Rob Lytle
Rob Lytle
Rob Lytle was an American football running back who played for the Denver Broncos of NFL. He attended the University of Michigan . Lytle was drafted in the second round of the 1977 NFL Draft by Denver with the 45th overall pick.Lytle was born in Fremont, Ohio...
.
His 587 carries was also a school record at the time he graduated. He finished his U-M career second to Tom Harmon
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
with 32 career touchdowns and 194 points. He also set the school record in average rushing yards per game at 102 yards per game. He rushed for 1,297 yards in his senior season (1971) and was selected as the team MVP. In the last two minutes of the 1971 Michigan-Ohio State game, Michigan was trailing, 7-3, when Bo Schembechler
Bo Schembechler
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...
called Taylor’s number. Taylor ran around the end and into the end zone, and Michigan won to cap an undefeated regular season. “It was every kid’s dream,” says Taylor, remembering what it was like to score the winning touchdown.http://www.thegoal.com/events/backontop/backontop.html During Taylor's years they had excellent offensive linemen such as Dan Dierdorf
Dan Dierdorf
Daniel Lee "Dan" Dierdorf is a former American football player and current television sportscaster. He played 13 NFL seasons and has worked for ABC's Monday Night Football and CBS as a color commentator since retiring from football....
, Reggie McKenzie
Reggie McKenzie (guard)
Reginald McKenzie is a former American football player. He played at the offensive guard position for the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1971 and was a consensus first-team All-American in 1971. He also who played 13 years of professional football for the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks...
, and Jim Mandich
Jim Mandich
James Michael "Mad Dog" Mandich was a professional American football tight end with the Miami Dolphins. Mandich was an All-American at the University of Michigan. In 2004 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. As color commentator for the Miami Dolphins , he was teamed with Jimmy...
. Taylor was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 1971 Michigan football team that went undefeated in the regular season (but lost 13-12 to Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl
1972 Rose Bowl
The 1972 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1972. It was the 58th Rose Bowl Game. The Stanford Indians defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 13–12...
game). The team was ranked in the top 5 all season and had four All-Americans.
Although Taylor played in 33 games at Michigan he only carried the ball in 30 of them. His 3072 yards in 30 games gives him a 102.3 yards/game average which was a Michigan average until Mike Hart
Mike Hart (football player)
Leon Michael "Mike" Hart is a former American football running back and current offensive quality control coach for Eastern Michigan University. Hart played college football as a running back at the University of Michigan from 2004 to 2007 and holds the Michigan Wolverines career rushing record...
established a new standard in his career ending in 2007.
In 1969, Taylor rushed for 225 yards against the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. At that time, Ron Johnson was the only Michigan player who had rushed for more yards in a game.
Downward spiral and substance abuse
Taylor wrote in his autobiography that football injuries and deaths of close family members sent him on "a long downward spiral of depression, drinking, drugs and encounters with the law." On January 4, 1972, just a few days after Taylor’s final game as a Wolverine, his mother died. “After my mother died I didn’t want to play anymore” says Taylor. He played in a post-season game at Coach Schembechler’s encouragement. O.J. Simpson, who was broadcasting the game, told Taylor to call home. When Taylor called home he discovered that his uncle had killed his aunt and then himself. Late that same summer, his girlfriend, Valerie, was stabbed to death outside a roller rink in Detroit.Taylor was selected by the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the fifth round of the 1971 NFL Draft, but he had a poor training camp with the Falcons. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, put on injured reserve, and finally cut. After a season with the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
where he played in two games and totaled 62 yards rushing on seven carries, three reception
Reception (American football)
In American football, a reception is part of a play in which a forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage is received by a player in bounds, who, after the catch, proceeds to either score a touchdown or be downed. Yards gained from the receiving play are credited to the player as receiving...
s for 27 yards and three kickoff returns for 59 yards, his football career was over.
Taylor went into a downward spiral that lasted 25 years. “I self-medicated”, says Taylor. Taylor managed to get his Masters in Education, get married and have three children, but he suffered from depression, divorced his wife, became isolated from his children, and eventually became homeless. He hit a low when he was convicted for having knowledge of a bank robbery and spent 2½ years in a federal penitentiary. He became an addict living on the streets of Detroit, cut off from friends and family.
Rehabilitation
In August 1997, Taylor reports he had an experience with God. “It was August 17, 1997. It was 5 a.m. I was sitting in front of an abandoned apartment building at the corner of Lakewood and Jefferson. I was drinking vodka and Black Label beer. I heard a voice. The voice said, ‘William Taylor, come forth.’ I heard it as clear as we’re talking now. It scared me to death. I jumped straight up in the air. I started cursing and looking for the person who had scared the daylights out of me. ... It was God. I don’t want to offend anyone, but that’s my testimony.” http://www.thegoal.com/events/backontop/backontop.htmlHe stopped drinking and taking drugs that day and published a book about his experience called "Get Back Up: The Billy Taylor Story." In 2003, Taylor received an Ed. D. degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada-Las Vegas is a public, coeducational university located in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, USA. The campus is located approximately east of the Las Vegas Strip. The institution includes a Shadow Lane Campus, located just east of the University Medical Center of...
. He has held several positions at the Community College of Southern Nevada
Community College of Southern Nevada
The College of Southern Nevada is primarily a two-year college in Clark County, Nevada, with one four-year degree in Dental Hygiene. The school is the largest public higher education institution in Nevada and the third largest of its kind in the nation...
. Most recently, Taylor was the Director of Rehabilitation Services for the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
Southeast Michigan working in Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
.