Experience, versatility Taylor’s calling cards
Well-travelled jack-of-all-trades proves a valuable addition to Eskimos defence
Nicholas Taylor can play virtually anywhere.
Since joining the Edmonton Eskimos in the off-season, the former Ottawa Redblacks defensive back has played all over the secondary, even suiting up at nickel linebacker in the pre-season before filling in at defensive half when Aaron Grymes missed the season opener to attend to personal matters.
Currently, Taylor is playing in place of injured cornerback Arjen Colquhoun, who started the season on the six-game injured list.
But Taylor’s versatility extends beyond the gridiron to the hardwood court — both in actual and virtual reality.
“Basically, I’ve just been around sports my whole life, so I’ve played football and basketball my whole life, both sports until I was about 16,” Taylor said.
“I got moved up to varsity first in basketball, and I just kind of stuck around doing basketball instead of doing both, which I probably should have done. But it ended up working out for me.”
As it turned out, the decision to focus on basketball after high school is what led to a professional football career. But it wasn’t exactly a direct path.
The five-foot-10, 165-pound native of Hollywood, Fla., played 74 basketball games with Florida International from 2007-10.
“Isiah Thomas was my basketball coach, actually, and I played for him for four years,” Taylor said of the legendary Detroit Pistons point guard and 12-time NBA allstar. “In the final year, I was like, ‘Coach, I just want to get back to playing football.’
“I just thought I had a better opportunity to make it, professionally, there. So that’s the road I went.”
That path led to a contract with the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings two years later, after Taylor recorded 40-yard dash times of 4.27 and 4.33. But even with blazing speed, he couldn’t avoid landing on the injured reserve for the entire 2012 season.
Four years later, he returned to the CFL with the Redblacks, where he played 17 games, recording 62 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception return for a touchdown.
“I’ve been around quite a few places: NFL, Arena (League) then CFL, so I’ve been around for five or six years now. It’s good to have the experience,” Taylor said.
But there was one particular experience along the way that, so far, no one has been able to match.
In 2011, Taylor won the NBA 2K championship in Las Vegas, taking Kobe Bryant’s 2012 L.A. Lakers all the way to the national first-place prize of US$25,000.
“I’ve played video games all the time, me and my friends were real competitive,” Taylor said. “We played 2K all the time, we’d get real competitive all day long.
“The video game came out that year, and on the back of the pack you could have a chance to win $25,000 if you do this and that and that.”
Which he promptly did. “I already knew I was really good, so I just kept playing and ended up making the tournament,” Taylor recalled, chuckling. “And got lucky, I guess.”
Over and over again.
“You had to play it a lot,” he said. “It wasn’t even about wins and losses. To make the top 256, you just had to play a lot to get a certain amount of points to get seeded.
“Then it was like, if you lost a game, you were out.”
Once he made it into the bracket, Taylor played his first five games online.
“Once you made the top eight, they flew you out to Vegas,” he said. “That actually helped me get locked back in on football, because I had $25,000 sitting around. I didn’t have to work, I could just go focus on football all day.
“That, actually, was a big thing to me getting back to football.”
The arrival of the crowned king of video game basketball came at the same time the Eskimos bid farewell to veteran pass rusher Odell Willis, who was known as much in video-game circles for his proficiency at Madden NFL football as anything he did on the actual football field.
“I guess I’ll be that guy,” Taylor said of being Willis’s virtual replacement in the Eskimos lockerroom. “I used to be big on Madden, too, but I finally slowed down. I just like NBA 2K and Call of Duty now. ”
Unfortunately, Taylor has never had the chance to defend his virtual title.
“They haven’t had a tournament like that again since,” he said. “They have different ones, little gaming sites where you gamble and stuff, and just like one-on-one games.
“I haven’t found a tournament like that one again. I’ll take the crown.”
In and out: On Tuesday, the Eskimos announced the retirement of 22-year-old American defensive back Brian Walker. The five-footnine, 184-pound Fayetteville State product played 15 games with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2017 before landing on the practice squad in Edmonton this year.
I’ve been around quite a few places: NFL, Arena (League) then CFL, so I’ve been around for five or six years now. It’s good to have the experience.