Aaron Taylor (born January 21, 1975) is a former American

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 ...

player for the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. Taylor was recognized as an All-American and won the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

in 1997.

Early years

Taylor was born in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Aaron Taylor
Retrieved January 30, 2012. He attended S. H. Rider High School in Wichita Falls, 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 Rider Raiders.

College career

Taylor attended the University of Nebraska, and played for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten. Nebraska plays its home games at Memorial Stadium ...

team from 1994 to 1997. As senior in 1997, he won the Outland Trophy as the top college interior lineman in the country. He is one of seven Nebraska players to have won the Outland Trophy and is the only Husker to be awarded All-American honors at two different positions, offensive center and guard. He was also the winner of the Jim Parker Award. During his career, he helped the Huskers to a 49-2 record (.961 winning percentage) and four straight bowl game wins, including undefeated seasons and national titles in 1994, 1995 and 1997. Two of the teams that Nebraska defeated in bowl games in those years, Florida in 1996 and Tennessee in 1998, would go on to win the national title the following year. Taylor participated in games featuring such memorable plays as

Tommie Frazier Tommie James Frazier Jr. (born July 16, 1974) is an American former football player and coach who played quarterback for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Frazier led his team to consecutive national championships in 1994 and 1995, and is ...

's 75-yard touchdown run against the Florida Gators in the 1996

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

and the

Flea Kicker In college football, the Flea Kicker was a notable play executed by the Nebraska Cornhuskers against the Missouri Tigers on November 8, 1997 that sent the game into overtime and resulted in a win for the Cornhuskers who went on to share the NCAA D ...

against Missouri in 1997. His jersey number 67 was retired by Nebraska in 1998, becoming one of just 16 Husker players so honored. In 1999, he was selected to the Nebraska All-Century Football Team via fan poll and in 2002 was named to the Athlon Sports Nebraska All-Time Team.

Collegiate All Century Teams

In 2010 Taylor was selected as a third-team offensive guard by Sports Illustrated in their "NCAA Football All-Century Team". The starters were Jim Parker of Ohio State and John Hannah of Alabama, the second-team consisted of

Bob Suffridge Robert Lee Suffridge (March 17, 1916 – March 3, 1974) was an American football player in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at the University of Tennessee, where he was later inducted into the ...

of Tennessee and Bill Fischer of Notre Dame and the other third-team player was

Dean Steinkuhler Dean Elmer Steinkuhler (born January 27, 1961) is a former professional American football guard in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons in the 1980s and 1990s. Steinkuhler played college football for the University of Nebraska, a ...

of Nebraska. He was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers selected to this 85 man roster; the others being

Rich Glover Richard Edward Glover (born February 6, 1950) is a former professional football player, a defensive tackle for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Nebraska under head c ...

Johnny Rodgers Johnny Steven Rodgers (born July 5, 1951) is an American former football player. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and won the Heisman Trophy in 1972. Rodgers played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) ...

Dave Rimington David Brian Rimington (born May 22, 1960) is a former American college and professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1980s. Rimington played college football for the Universit ...

, Dean Steinkuhler and Tommie Frazier. In 1999 Taylor was selected as a starting offensive guard to the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

College Football All Century Team. The other offensive guards selected were John Hannah of Alabama, Dean Steinkuhler of Nebraska,

Brad Budde Brad Edward Budde (born May 9, 1958) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1980s. Budde played college football for the Unive ...

of USC,

Will Shields Will Herthie Shields (born September 15, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earnin ...

of Nebraska and Jim Parker of Ohio State. Taylor was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers selected to this 83 man team; the others being Rodgers, Rimington, Steinkuhler, Shields and Frazier.

Professional career

After Nebraska, Taylor was drafted in the seventh round of the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 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 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. Taylor played for the Colts for the first part of the 1998 season before becoming a member of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Personal

After the 1998 season, Taylor retired from professional football to start a career in business and to help coach

. Taylor currently works for

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

in Omaha, Nebraska.

References

External links

Nebraska profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Aaron 1975 births Living people People from Wichita Falls, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football offensive guards Nebraska Cornhuskers football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Indianapolis Colts players Chicago Bears players