Taylor Bennett (born September 12, 1985) is a former college football

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and former member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

. He began his collegiate career at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

before transferring to the

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters, commonly abbreviated La. Tech and Dawgs, refer to the sports teams of Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston, Louisiana. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports. Since 2013, Louisiana Tech has bee ...

. He majored in International Affairs at Georgia Tech. He later enrolled as a graduate student majoring in Information Systems Security at Louisiana Tech in the fall of 2008. Taylor also obtained a law degree from

Atlanta's John Marshall Law School Atlanta's John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) is a private for-profit law school in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1933 and named for John Marshall, the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. AJMLS is accredited by th ...

. He also played football professionally in Sweden in the Superserien.

Football career

High school

Taylor Bennett attended Lafayette High School in

Wildwood, Missouri Wildwood is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is located in the far western portion of the county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,417. Wildwood is the home of the Al Foster Trail, and numerous other trails, p ...

from 2000 to 2004.

College

Bennett was selected as the Yellow Jackets' backup quarterback before the 2004 game against the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

. Prior to the 2007 season, he started in two games; in 2005 against the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's foo ...

when Reggie Ball had

viral meningitis Viral meningitis, also known as aseptic meningitis, is a type of meningitis due to a viral infection. It results in inflammation of the meninges (the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord). Symptoms commonly include headache, fever, sen ...

, and in the 2007 Gator Bowl against the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

when Reggie Ball was academically ineligible to play. At the Connecticut game, Bennett became only the second quarterback in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

history to complete a pass for a touchdown in his first ever collegiate play from scrimmage. The only other quarterback to do this was former

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

quarterback

Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy ...

. In May 2007, Bennett was given a Spring Team honorable mention by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

in recognition of his outstanding performance in spring practice. Bennett had a mediocre showing in Georgia Tech's 2007 season, finishing 7–6, 4–4 ACC, including a loss to Fresno State. After the 2007 season, Paul Johnson was named as Georgia Tech's new head coach. Many believed that Bennett would not fit well into Johnson's

option offense An option offense is an American football offensive system in which a key player (usually the quarterback) has several "options" of how each play will proceed based upon the actions of the defense. Traditionally, option-based offenses rely on ru ...

, and in February 2008 Bennett announced that he planned to transfer to another school for the 2008 season. On April 28, it was announced that Bennett would transfer to

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

, and the

would allow him to play in the 2008 season rather than sitting out a season as most transfers are required to do. Bennett won the starting job for the Bulldogs during 2008 fall camp. He led his new team to a victory over the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I. Sports sp ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

in the 2008 season opener. Unfortunately, this proved to be the highlight of Bennett's season with the Bulldogs. Over the first five games of the season Bennett completed only 39 percent of his passes. He threw 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions and led the team to a 2–3 record. After a disappointing loss to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, in which Bennett threw 2 interceptions, head coach Derek Dooley announced that sophomore Ross Jenkins would start the next game against

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. Bennett saw little action for the rest of the season. He went 5 for 11 in only 2 games for no touchdowns and 1 interception.

Sweden

During the 2009 season Bennett was the starting quarterback for the Stockholm Mean Machines in Stockholm, Sweden. A season that ended with the club's 11th national championship. Bennett finished his season in the EFL playing for the Stockholm Mean Machine with a 6–2 record although the team finished 14–3. The team went on to win the national championship, thus qualifying for the Euro-Championship tournament. Taylor finished the season with 1756 yards passing, 26 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions.

Political career

A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Bennett ran in a special election to replace Republican Mike Jacobs for the right to represent District 80 in the Georgia House of Representatives. He won a runoff election against former

Brookhaven, Georgia Brookhaven is a city in the northeastern suburbs of Atlanta that is located in western DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, directly northeast of Atlanta. On July 31, 2012, Brookhaven was approved in a referendum to become DeKalb County's 11th c ...

mayor J. Max Davis on August 11, 2015 to capture the seat. In 2016, Bennett was defeated for reelection by Atlanta attorney Meagan Hanson.

References

External links

Georgia Tech profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Taylor 1985 births Living people 21st-century American politicians American football quarterbacks Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players People from St. Louis County, Missouri Players of American football from St. Louis Politicians from St. Louis American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American expatriate players of American football