Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
TAYLOR MAKES HALL OF FAME IN FIRST TRY.
Former Dolphins defensive star was in 1st year of eligibility
Former Dolphins great Jason Taylor was elevated to legendary status when he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Taylor, who played 15 seasons in the NFL, 13 with the Dolphins, was a six-time Pro Bowl selection and ranks seventh in league history with 139.5 sacks. The angular defensive end and Plantation resident makes the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Taylor joins running backs LaDainian Tomlinson and Terrell Davis, quarterback Kurt Warner, kicker Morten Andersen, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and safety Kenny Easley as members of the Hall of Fame class of 2017.
Taylor and the other members of the Class of 2017 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday, Aug. 5.
“To say that I’m elated is an understatement. This whole experience has been humbling, but today, to get that knock on the door and be welcomed into the most sacred and prestigious fraternity in our game? I’m almost at a loss for words. And to share this moment with my sons has made me as proud and as honored as I’ve ever
been. ‘Dad! You’re in the Hall of Fame!’ It just doesn’t get any better than that,” Taylor said Saturday night.
Elected by a panel of football writers, Taylor joins coach Don Shula, linebacker Nick Buoniconti, running back Larry Csonka, quarterback Bob Griese, center Jim Langer, guard Larry Little, quarterback Dan Marino, center Dwight Stephenson and wide receiver Paul Warfield as Dolphins Hall of Fame selections.
“I love Jason,” Marino said. “Jason was a teammate of mine, and I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame, without a doubt.”
Taylor, the Dolphins’ third-round pick from the University of Akron in 1997, became known for his bigplay ability. His nine touchdowns are the most in NFL history for a defensive lineman. His six fumble recoveries for touchdowns are the most in NFL history. And his 29 fumble recoveries are tied for most in NFL history.
In addition, Taylor, a member of the NFL’s AllDecade Team for the 2000s, had eight interceptions, three safeties and led the NFL in sacks in 2002 with a career-best 18.5.
“J.T. is definitely deserving, not just of being in the Hall of Fame, but of being a first-ballot guy,” said former Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas, Taylor’s longtime teammate and brother-inlaw (Taylor married Thomas’ sister). “I can say this with confidence because I saw it firsthand, for a long, long time.”
As a topper, Taylor won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2007, which recognizes community service as well as on-field performance.
“He’s really a good guy, very respectful, just a quality guy,” said Stephenson, winner of the Walter Payton Award in 1985.
“You want to see good things happen to good guys, and Jason Taylor is a good guy.”
Taylor, drafted by former Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, didn’t take long to make his presence known in the NFL.
From 2000 to 2011, no player had more sacks than Taylor’s 123. Taylor had six double-digit sack seasons in the eight-year span 2000-07.
“He was impact player at a high level for a lot of years, a lot of years,” Marino said. “A cat that could change the game in a minute as far as intercepting the ball, picking up a fumble, making a sack, whatever it may be, just a great, great player.”
Thomas, like Marino, cited Taylor’s playmaking skill as his most distinguishing trait.
“He was such an impact player,” Thomas said. “The sacks speak from themselves, but there are a lot of guys who just have sacks. J.T. did so many things to disrupt the game: the forced fumbles, the interceptions, the touchdowns. He just impacted games so much.
“And it wasn’t just the stats you can measure. When you think about hurries, hits on the quarterback, things that don’t even show up in the stats, he was doing them all. He must have been the most annoying guy in the league for a quarterback to play against.”
Defensive tackle Tim Bowens shared defensive line duties with Taylor for eight seasons (1997-2004).
“The guy made plays,” Bowens said. “When you turned the TV on, that was one of the guys you wanted to watch.”
Although Taylor was regarded as undersized at 6 feet, 6 inches and 235-240 pounds, Bowens said his competitive nature allowed him to excel.
“He was very, very, very, very, very, very competitive,” Bowens said with a laugh.
Bowens said Taylor’s fiery competitiveness showed not only on the field, but also in the weight room and the locker room.
“He might go off or something,” Bowens said, adding with a laugh, “there’s a lot of stuff that he did that I can’t really talk about.”
In 2006, when he won Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor, who sometimes lined up at linebacker, compiled 13.5 sacks, 10 forced fumbles and two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns.
“I can’t imagine him not being the Defensive Player of the Year this year,” New England coach Bill Belichick said at the time.
Taylor, who appeared on the TV show “Dancing With the Stars” in 2008 and played for Washington (2008) and the New York Jets (2010), never reached a Super Bowl. But he appeared in nine playoff games, including six with the Dolphins.
“He’s got all the things that make you a Hall of Famer: make people better around him, raising the level of play, doing things as well or better than anyone else in the National Football League, and doing it for such a long time,” Stephenson said.
“And then what he did off the field, too, as well. And I know some people don’t want to count that, but the guy’s a quality player and a quality guy off the field, too. So he’s a Hall of Famer by my standards.”