Background and career
Tyrod Di'allo Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American professional football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft. While in Baltimore, Taylor served as the backup to starting quarterback Joe Flacco, including during the Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The Buffalo Bills signed him as a free agent in 2015, taking over the starting quarterback duties that season and earning a Pro Bowl appearance. In 2017, he helped the Bills make the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. Taylor was traded to the Cleveland Browns in March 2018, with the Bills drafting Josh Allen to replace him. Taylor subsequently earned the starting position for the Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, New York Giants, and New York Jets, but was sidelined due to injuries all five times and replaced by rookies Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Davis Mills, Tommy DeVito, and Brady Cook, respectively.
At Hampton High School, in Hampton, Virginia, Taylor was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. In football, he helped lead the team as a quarterback, while also becoming the team's kick returner and safety. During his four years as starter, Taylor led the team to a 34–4 record and the 2005 VHSL state championship. He accumulated 7,690 yards of offense and scored 100 total touchdowns. Taylor passed for 5,144 yards and 44 touchdowns, while rushing for 2,546 yards and 56 touchdowns. When Taylor graduated from Hampton in 2007, he was rated as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback at Rivals.com. ESPN.com rated Taylor the No. 3 overall quarterback, while Scout.com said he was the nation's seventh-best passer. Taylor ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash. He narrowed his final two choices down to Virginia Tech and the University of Florida, and chose to attend the former.
As a freshman, Taylor shared time for most of the season with the junior quarterback Sean Glennon. Taylor's first action of college football came in the game against the LSU Tigers on September 8, 2007. In that game, he completed seven of 18 passes for 62 yards and rushed nine times for 44 yards and his first collegiate touchdown. After the game, Taylor was named the starter by head coach Frank Beamer. In his first collegiate start against Ohio, Taylor threw for 287 yards and rushed for a touchdown. One of Taylor's early accolades was rushing for 92 yards and a touchdown as well as passing for 204 yards and two touchdowns in leading Virginia Tech to its first victory against Florida State in two decades. The win was the first ever for Frank Beamer against Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden. On October 13, in the second quarter of a game against Duke, Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain which forced him to miss two games. Taylor returned in a game at Georgia Tech, but did not start for the rest of the season and rotated time with starter Sean Glennon. Throughout the season, Taylor accumulated 1,356 total yards, including 927 passing and 429 rushing. He completed 72-of-134 passing attempts, for a completion percentage of 53.7. Taylor scored 11 touchdowns during the year, five passing and six rushing.
Coming into the 2008 season, Taylor was intended to be redshirted. After Virginia Tech's loss to East Carolina University though, his redshirt was taken off due to Tech's need for more offense. Taylor's first appearance of the season came in the second game of the season against Furman, where he rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown. His first sophomore start came in the following week against Georgia Tech. After starting every game of the 2008 season leading up to the Florida State game on October 25, Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play of the Florida State game. Sean Glennon relieved Taylor at the quarterback position after this setback. While Glennon got the start versus Miami, Taylor split time with Glennon and led a crucial fourth quarter to make it a two-point game 16–14. However, he was sacked in a crucial 4th and 3 with less than two minutes left. After the loss, Taylor started against Duke. After committing five turnovers in the first half, he was pulled from the game and replaced by Sean Glennon. Taylor then started next week at Virginia. He performed well including a 73-yard run and finished the game going 12-for-18 for 137 yards and a touchdown while also rushing 16 times for 137 yards. Taylor then started in the ACC Championship Game win over Boston College and was named the ACC Championship Game MVP. On January 1, 2009, he led the Hokies to a 20–7 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats in the 2009 Orange Bowl. Overall, Taylor finished his sophomore season with 1,036 passing yards with two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
During his junior season, Taylor led the Hokies to a 9–3 regular season record and a second-place finish in the Coastal Division of the ACC. The Hokies played the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl and won 37–14, finishing with a final record of 10–3. After climbing as high as #4 in the rankings, Tech lost back to back games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina, but finished the season ranked 10th in both the AP and USA Today Top 25 polls. In the 2009 season, Taylor finished with 2,311 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and five interceptions. After his junior season, Taylor had a 23–5 career record at Virginia Tech, which was the second most wins of all time for a starting quarterback at Virginia Tech.
Taylor's senior season began with two heartbreaking losses to Boise State at FedExField and at home to Division I-FCS James Madison. He was 15-of-22 for 186 yards and two touchdowns, along with 73 yards on the ground, against Boise State, but was unable to respond following a Broncos score with 1:03 remaining. However, Taylor ultimately led the Hokies to a remarkable turnaround season, winning 11 consecutive games after the 0–2 start. The 2010 Hokies became the first ACC team to finish with an undefeated 8–0 record in ACC play in 10 years. They became ACC Champions for the fourth time in seven seasons with a 44–33 win over Florida State in the 2010 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. Overall, in his final collegiate season, Taylor had 2,743 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He finished the regular season as ACC Player of the Year and ACC Championship Game Most Valuable Player. Taylor participated in the 2011 East-West Shrine Game. He completed four of his five passes for 59 yards.
