Taylor eager to lift Als’ return game
Speedster’s happy to be back in Montreal
Older and wiser, more mature and experienced, Larry Taylor has returned to the scene of his glory, hoping to recapture the greatness that was so evident throughout his first tenure with the Alouettes.
Taylor, a kick returner, hopes to prove that you can go home again.
“I’m in a happy place and I’m ready to play ball,” Taylor said on Wednesday, following the Als practice at a St. Léonard soccer field.
And as luck would have it, Taylor’s first regular-season game in 2014 comes Saturday at McMahon Stadium against Calgary. The Stampeders traded the diminutive 5-foot-6, 181 pounder back to Montreal last February, along with a fifth-round draft pick. In exchange, the Stamps received the Als’ fifth-round pick last May along with a conditional thirdround 2015 draft choice.
Immediately after the deal, Calgary signed former Saskatchewan returner Jock Sanders. Comparisons will be inevitable.
“That’s always a part of it,” acknowledged Taylor, the native of Fort Lauderdale who turned 29 at the end of May. “When you get rid of one guy and look at who replaced him, there’s always going to be comparisons. I don’t get involved in that.
“When I step on the field, I do what I can and use my abilities. I allow my teammates to put me in a position to showcase my talents.”
Some of those talents were readily on display last Friday, in the Als’ final exhibition game, against Ottawa. While Taylor was ordinary on punt returns — four for 17 yards — he was considerably more exciting on kickoffs, returning two, totalling 75 yards, including a 41-yard gem.
Taylor can also be used as a receiver and tailback.
He signed with the Als as a free agent in 2008, out of the University of Connecticut. A year later, he was named the Canadian Football League’s outstanding special-teams player. That season, he returned 89 punts for 788 yards, scoring two touchdowns. He also returned 51 kickoffs for 1,059 yards.
“He’s one of the more dynamic returners in the league, like he was when we had him,” said general manager Jim Popp, who ventured to practice on Wednesday. “I’ve always liked Larry Taylor. I recruited him and found him. He knows the league well, even better than when we had him. He has great vision and can make stuff out of nothing.”
The Als have gone through a plethora of returners since Taylor’s departure to the NFL in 2010. The argument can be made the team never has replaced him, but Popp maintains there have been plenty of good returners over the years. It has been the special-teams system, or lack of such, that has constantly bogged them down.
“We’ve had great returners here for years. We just haven’t been consistent or had great success, not to blame anybody,” Popp said. “There’s a lot of dynamics to that and we’ve tried everything.
“At the end of the day, we have a lot of people, kickoff returners, getting hit at the 20-yard line before we even get started. We’ve had our hot and cold moments.”
This season, head coach Tom Higgins has appointed himself special teams coordinator, with the Als electing not to bring Ray Rychleski back — although he has a year remaining on his contract.
“Even if you’re not a great blocking special-teams team, Taylor can still get something out of it,” Popp maintained.
Taylor signed with the New York Jets as a free agent in 2010 and, despite some decent exhibition-game statistics, was released in early September. The Jets resigned him to the practice roster, only for Taylor to be cut, again, in early October, following the addition of Patrick Turner.
He returned, reluctantly, to the Als later that month, starting a late October game against Toronto before leaving with a hip pointer. He missed the regular-season finale.
Surprisingly, only 72 hours before the East Division final, Taylor was released, although head coach Marc Trestman intimated Taylor would play ahead of Tim Maypray.
Trestman claimed he changed his mind out of loyalty to Maypray, who had spent the season with the team. In truth, Taylor returned to Montreal with a poor attitude.
“The players have to want to be here, too,” Popp said. “Larry didn’t really seem to want to be here at that time. He felt he still had an opportunity to go to another (NFL) team.
“It was his body language. Players on our team were coming to us. They felt as though he didn’t want to be here. The coaches came to me at that time and said it was best to get him out. It wasn’t a good situation. Tim did great through the playoffs and we won a championship.”
Taylor understandably doesn’t went to relive history and has learned from the experience.
Although he was surprised by the February trade, he has returned to an organization with which he’s comfortable — one that gave him his first opportunity. “This is the one organization that believed in me,” he said. “I’m happy to come back here. I’ve been playing at the highest level, so I can’t complain about anything. I know I’m still one of the best returners in this league.”
Taylor returned 53 kickoffs for 1,147 yards last season, along with 82 punts for 615 yards. He was named a West Division all-star — some would say based on reputation alone. Nonetheless, he battled a knee injury before undergoing arthroscopic surgery last winter.
Despite all that, Taylor didn’t turn the ball over once last season — a remarkable feat.