Aaron Matthew Taylor (born November 14, 1972) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who was an offensive

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for six seasons. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and was a two-time All-American. A first-round pick in the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

, he played professionally for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

of the NFL. Taylor works as a college football analyst and television sportscaster. He is the Founder of th
Joe Moore Award
for the most outstanding offensive line unit in college football - the only major college football award going to a group versus an individual. Aaron Taylor is a speaker on teamwork and performance at summits, events, corporate retreats, universities. In 2021, Taylor was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

Early years

Taylor was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Aaron Taylor
Retrieved February 15, 2012. He graduated from De La Salle High School in Concord, California,databaseFootball.com, Players
Aaron Taylor
. Retrieved February 15, 2012. where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the De La Salle Spartans.

College career

He attended the University of Notre Dame, and played

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...

team from 1990 to 1993.Notre Dame Fighting Irish Athletics, Archives
Aaron Taylor
Retrieved February 15, 2012. He was a consensus first-team All-American in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and won the Lombardi Award in 1993. He was also a senior team captain and an Outland Trophy finalist in 1993.

Professional career

Taylor was selected in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers,Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History
1994 National Football League Draft
Retrieved February 15, 2012. and he played for the Packers from to .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players

Retrieved February 15, 2012. Taylor's promising career was repeatedly interrupted by knee injuries, but he won a starting job at guard and played in two Super Bowls with the Packers, including the Packers' 1997 championship win in

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

. After signing a large contract to play with the San Diego Chargers in , Taylor continued to be plagued by injuries, leading to his retirement from the NFL after the season.

Post-playing career

Taylor works as a college football analyst for

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

. He previously worked as an analyst for ABC Sports, and as co-host of the network's college football coverage with John Saunders and Craig James. Taylor provides color commentary for CBSSN's coverage of the

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decembe ...

competition. He is married to Bulgarian Olympic beach volleyball player Lina Yanchulova, and has two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Aaron 1972 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive guards Green Bay Packers players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players People from Concord, California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area San Diego Chargers players College football announcers Players of American football from California De La Salle High School (Concord, California) alumni