Trent Nelson Taylor (born April 30, 1994) is an

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 ...

wide receiver and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for 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 ...

of 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). 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 ...

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 was drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the fifth round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

Early years

Taylor attended

Evangel Christian Academy Evangel Christian Academy is a private, Christian school in Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shr ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, 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 Eagles. He had 107 receptions for 1,650 yards and 20

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

his senior year and 65 catches for 1,075 yards and 18 touchdowns his junior year. He committed to

Louisiana Tech University 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 activ ...

to play college football.

College career

Taylor attended Louisiana Tech from 2013 to 2016. During his career, Taylor had 327 receptions for 4,179 yards and 32 touchdowns. The 327 receptions were a school record. In his final collegiate game, he was named the MVP of the

2016 Armed Forces Bowl The 2016 Armed Forces Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 23, 2016, at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. The fourteenth annual edition of the Armed Forces Bowl was one of the 2016–17 bowl ...

after recording 12 receptions for 233 yards and two touchdowns.

College statistics

''Source:''

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

The

selected Taylor in the fifth round (177th overall) of the

. On September 10, 2017, in his NFL debut, Taylor had one reception for eight yards in the season opening 23–3 loss at home to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. In Week 3, against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, he scored his first career touchdown, a three-yard pass from quarterback

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for seven different ...

, in the fourth quarter, as the 49ers narrowly lost 41–39. Taylor finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 430 yards and two touchdowns. On September 20, 2019, Taylor was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after suffering a setback from offseason foot surgery. In the first game of 2020 and Taylor's first game since 2018, he caught two passes for 7 yards and returned 2 punts for 21 yards as the 49ers lost 24–20 to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the 49ers on December 23, 2020, and activated on January 6, 2021.

Cincinnati Bengals

On May 17, 2021, Taylor signed with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the next day. He finished the regular season with 2 receptions for 41 yards, 4 kick returns for 68 yards, and 7 punts for 52 yards. On January 29, 2022, Taylor was promoted to the active roster for the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

. He caught a pass from

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heisma ...

for a two-point conversion, tying the game at 21 in a game the Bengals went on to win 27–24, securing the Bengals' first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

appearance since

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. On February 22, 2022, Taylor re-signed with the Bengals. He opened the 2022 season as the Bengals' primary punt returner along with being the team's backup slot receiver to starter Tyler Boyd. In the team's Week 1 loss to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Taylor returned 5 punts for 31 yards. In Week 9 against the

, Taylor recorded 98 total yards, catching 3 passes for 18 yards, rushing for 14 yards on 2 attempts, in addition to returning 2 kicks for 15 yards and 3 punts for 52 yards along with fumbling a ball that the Bengals recovered. In Week 14 in a win against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, Taylor recorded one reception for a season-long 34 yards and returned 3 punts for 14 yards. Taylor re-signed with the Bengals on one-year contract on March 27, 2023. He was released during final roster cuts August 29, 2023.

Chicago Bears

Taylor signed with the

on August 31, 2023.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Trent 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football wide receivers Evangel Christian Academy alumni Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players San Francisco 49ers players Cincinnati Bengals players Chicago Bears players