Taylor learned hard lessons at the University. He was placed on academic suspension in 1998 and missed that season.
“I didn’t lock in like I needed to,” Taylor said. “Virginia’s a beautiful place, and I didn’t take advantage of the resources that were there for me. But it was a part of my story, and it made me who I was my senior year.”
Without Taylor, the Hoos finished 9-3 in 1998. UVA climbed to No. 7 in polls before losing to Georgia Tech that fall. Virginia finished the season ranked No. 13 nationally but could have done even better, Taylor believes.
“I really felt like I was the missing piece that year,” he said, “rushing the quarterback, playing in coverage, doing some of those things. I think I was the piece that we needed to kind of get over the hump, and I have nightmares all the time about that particular year.”
Taylor did his best to turn a negative into a positive. His academic suspension “lit a fire under me,” he said. Buoyed by his teammates’ support—“They loved on me, they kept me in the loop of what was going on, they didn’t ostracize me or anything like that,” he said—Taylor worked out at 5:30 every morning with the strength and conditioning staff “to prove to the [coaches[ that this was what I wanted to do.”
Back in good academic standing, he earned a starting job at outside linebacker during training camp in 1999 and followed with that a breakout season. Taylor led the Hoos in tackles in ’99. He recorded a team-high 15 tackles for loss, including six sacks, and made the All-ACC second team.
In 2000, the San Diego Chargers selected Taylor in the sixth round of the NFL draft. Later that spring, he graduated from UVA with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.
Other African-Americans have encountered racial animosity at UVA, Taylor knows, but he said he didn’t experience that on Grounds or in Charlottesville.
“I was so young and naive that I really didn’t see any biases or anything like that towards myself or my teammates,” said Taylor, who minored in psychology.
Those were heady years for the Cavalier football program, and “we had support by the student body and support by the professors at the school,” Taylor said. “My experience there was amazing. I travel back there probably once or twice a month now.”
Taylor has strong ties to UVA linebackers James Jackson and Kam Robinson. Taylor was North Cross’ defensive coordinator when Jackson played…