Larry Taylor (Canadian football)
Encyclopedia
Larry Taylor is a gridiron football
wide receiver
and kick returner
for the Calgary Stampeders
of the Canadian Football League
. He originally signed with the Montreal Alouettes
as a free agent
in 2008. He played college football
for the Connecticut Huskies (UConn)
, where he returned punt
s for touchdown
s in each of the Huskies' first two bowl games—the 2004 Motor City Bowl
and the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
.
. Raised by his grandmother since he was 2, Taylor was taken under wing by David Lucca and Ross Teider, fathers of football teammates, who helped him to escape from the streets and eventually transfer to Glades Day School
for his junior year of high school. At Glades Day, Taylor played running back
and rushed for 1,774 yards and 28 touchdown
s. He averaged 11 yards per running attempt, and 42.3 yards per kickoff return. In his senior season, Taylor was the Palm Beach County offensive player of the year, Class A (small school) player of the year, and a finalist for the Mr. Football award in Florida.
Taylor's speed—measured at 4.3 seconds on the 40-yard dash—made him an attractive target for Division I football programs; his diminutive size—5 in 6 in (1.68 m) and 157 lbs—caused that interest to abate.
Schools such as Tennessee
and Mississippi State
evaluated Taylor but eventually declined to offer a scholarship. In the end Connecticut
, Eastern Michigan
, and Middle Tennessee State
made scholarship offers. After making his only official visit to Connecticut, Taylor opted to sign with the Huskies.
, and 28.7 yards per kickoff return, which would have led the Big East except that Taylor was two returns short of qualifying for the statistical lead. UConn improved from next-to-last in Division I-A in punt returns to 27th overall thanks to Taylor's performance. In the 2004 Motor City Bowl
, the first bowl game in Connecticut history, Taylor returned a first-quarter punt 63 yards for a touchdown and averaged 44.5 yards on two kickoff returns.
Taylor was involved in a controversial play during his senior season, in a regular season game against the Louisville Cardinals
. With thirteen minutes remaining in the third quarter and UConn trailing Louisville 7–0, Taylor received a 45-yard punt on the Connecticut 26-yard line. He briefly put up his right hand before catching the ball. The Louisville players slowed down and stopped, believing Taylor had made a fair catch
and the play was over. Taylor took off, however, and ran all the way down the left sideline 74 yards for the touchdown. Despite the Cardinals' protests, the officials ruled that whether Taylor had signaled for a fair catch or not was not reviewable. The touchdown helped the Huskies win the game 21–17. Interviewed after the game regarding the play, Taylor was quoted as saying: After the game, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese
publicly apologized to Louisville for the call, calling it a "terrible mistake". The official responsible for making the call was punished. In the offseason, the Big East worked to improve its officiating processes to prevent a call like this from happening again.
Taylor's final game with the Huskies was the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
. In the first quarter, he returned a punt for Connecticut's only touchdown of the game. He finished with 75 yards on three punt returns, for an average of 25 yards per return; he also returned one kickoff for 20 yards, and caught two passes for eight yards.
for the 2008 CFL season. He played with them for two years, winning the Grey Cup with the Alouettes in his second season with the team. In 2009 he was named the CFL's outstanding special teams player and an East Division All-Star, returning 89 punts for 788 total yards and two touchdowns, and 51 kickoffs for 1,059 total yards. He returned to the team at the end of the 2010 season.
in the 2010 offseason. He was the shortest player in training camp when offseason workouts began. His performance in training camp caused him to become a subplot in HBO's Hard Knocks
documentary series about the Jets. In the 2010 preseason, Taylor returned seven kickoffs for 175 yards and six punts for 58 yards and caught four passes. Despite this, he was cut from the team Friday, September 3 just before the last preseason game. When he cleared waivers, however, the Jets resigned him to their practice squad. Taylor was released from the team's practice squad on October 6, 2010 following the addition of Patrick Turner
.
for the 2011 CFL season.
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
and kick returner
Kick returner
In American and Canadian football, a kick returner is the player on special teams who is primarily responsible to catch kickoffs and attempts to return them in the opposite direction. If the ball is kicked into his own endzone, he must assess the situation on the field while the ball is in the...
for the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. He originally signed with the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
as a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
in 2008. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for the Connecticut Huskies (UConn)
Connecticut Huskies football
The Connecticut Huskies football team is a collegiate football team that competes in NCAA Division I-A and the Big East Conference. Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I-AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two-year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and...
, where he returned punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
s for touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s in each of the Huskies' first two bowl games—the 2004 Motor City Bowl
2004 Motor City Bowl
The 2004 Motor City Bowl, part of the 2004–05 NCAA football bowl games season, occurred on December 27, 2004 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.- Team selection :...
and the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
The 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl, one of 27 non-BCS bowl games played after the 2007 NCAA football regular season, took place on Saturday, December 29, 2007 with a 1:00PM EST kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina...
.
Early life
Larry Taylor grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FloridaFort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
. Raised by his grandmother since he was 2, Taylor was taken under wing by David Lucca and Ross Teider, fathers of football teammates, who helped him to escape from the streets and eventually transfer to Glades Day School
Glades Day School
Glades Day School is a K-12 private school located in Palm Beach County, northeast of Belle Glade, Florida. It accredited by the FCIS . It was founded in 1965 by parents and continues to be governed by parents....
for his junior year of high school. At Glades Day, Taylor played running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
and rushed for 1,774 yards and 28 touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s. He averaged 11 yards per running attempt, and 42.3 yards per kickoff return. In his senior season, Taylor was the Palm Beach County offensive player of the year, Class A (small school) player of the year, and a finalist for the Mr. Football award in Florida.
Taylor's speed—measured at 4.3 seconds on the 40-yard dash—made him an attractive target for Division I football programs; his diminutive size—5 in 6 in (1.68 m) and 157 lbs—caused that interest to abate.
Schools such as Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
and Mississippi State
Mississippi State Bulldogs football
The Mississippi State Bulldogs football program represents Mississippi State University in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing as a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference. Mississippi State has produced 38 All-Americans, 171 All-SEC selections, and 124...
evaluated Taylor but eventually declined to offer a scholarship. In the end Connecticut
Connecticut Huskies football
The Connecticut Huskies football team is a collegiate football team that competes in NCAA Division I-A and the Big East Conference. Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I-AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two-year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and...
, Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan Eagles football
The Eastern Michigan Eagles are a college football program at Eastern Michigan University. They compete in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Mid-American Conference...
, and Middle Tennessee State
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team represents Middle Tennessee State University in NCAA Division I FBS football competition. The Blue Raiders, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, play their home games at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.Rick Stockstill has...
made scholarship offers. After making his only official visit to Connecticut, Taylor opted to sign with the Huskies.
College career
In 2003, UConn ranked 116th-best in punt returns, out of only 117 teams in Division I-A. Taylor played in the first game of the 2004 season, against Murray State, where he returned five punts for 74 total yards, averaging 14.8 yards per punt return. The longest return went 58 yards. Taylor would continue to return punts and a limited number of kickoffs through the game against Temple, where he returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown but sprained his ankle, forcing him to miss the next two games. In UConn's final regular season game against Rutgers, Taylor returned a kickoff 43 yards; this return set up the touchdown that gave the Huskies the lead for good in the game. On the regular season, Taylor averaged 12.3 yards per punt return, third-best in the Big East ConferenceBig East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
, and 28.7 yards per kickoff return, which would have led the Big East except that Taylor was two returns short of qualifying for the statistical lead. UConn improved from next-to-last in Division I-A in punt returns to 27th overall thanks to Taylor's performance. In the 2004 Motor City Bowl
2004 Motor City Bowl
The 2004 Motor City Bowl, part of the 2004–05 NCAA football bowl games season, occurred on December 27, 2004 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.- Team selection :...
, the first bowl game in Connecticut history, Taylor returned a first-quarter punt 63 yards for a touchdown and averaged 44.5 yards on two kickoff returns.
Taylor was involved in a controversial play during his senior season, in a regular season game against the Louisville Cardinals
2007 Louisville Cardinals football team
The 2007 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2007 college football season. The team, led by Steve Kragthorpe in his first year at the school, played their home games in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and were in their third year in the Big East...
. With thirteen minutes remaining in the third quarter and UConn trailing Louisville 7–0, Taylor received a 45-yard punt on the Connecticut 26-yard line. He briefly put up his right hand before catching the ball. The Louisville players slowed down and stopped, believing Taylor had made a fair catch
Fair catch
A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other codes of football, in which a player attempting to catch a ball kicked by the opposing team – either on a kickoff or punt – is entitled to catch the ball without interference from any member of the kicking team...
and the play was over. Taylor took off, however, and ran all the way down the left sideline 74 yards for the touchdown. Despite the Cardinals' protests, the officials ruled that whether Taylor had signaled for a fair catch or not was not reviewable. The touchdown helped the Huskies win the game 21–17. Interviewed after the game regarding the play, Taylor was quoted as saying: After the game, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese
Mike Tranghese
Michael "Mike" Tranghese was the commissioner of the Big East Conference and helped create the conference as founder Dave Gavitt's right-hand man in 1979.Tranghese retired as commissioner in the spring of 2009. John Marinatto succeeded him as commissioner....
publicly apologized to Louisville for the call, calling it a "terrible mistake". The official responsible for making the call was punished. In the offseason, the Big East worked to improve its officiating processes to prevent a call like this from happening again.
Taylor's final game with the Huskies was the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl
The 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl, one of 27 non-BCS bowl games played after the 2007 NCAA football regular season, took place on Saturday, December 29, 2007 with a 1:00PM EST kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina...
. In the first quarter, he returned a punt for Connecticut's only touchdown of the game. He finished with 75 yards on three punt returns, for an average of 25 yards per return; he also returned one kickoff for 20 yards, and caught two passes for eight yards.
Montreal Alouettes
Taylor signed with the Montreal AlouettesMontreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
for the 2008 CFL season. He played with them for two years, winning the Grey Cup with the Alouettes in his second season with the team. In 2009 he was named the CFL's outstanding special teams player and an East Division All-Star, returning 89 punts for 788 total yards and two touchdowns, and 51 kickoffs for 1,059 total yards. He returned to the team at the end of the 2010 season.
New York Jets
Taylor signed with the New York JetsNew York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the 2010 offseason. He was the shortest player in training camp when offseason workouts began. His performance in training camp caused him to become a subplot in HBO's Hard Knocks
Hard Knocks (TV series)
Hard Knocks is a reality sports documentary television series produced by NFL Films and HBO. The series follows a select National Football League team through its training camp and provides an in-depth perspective of the team's preparation for the upcoming season. The series is described as one of...
documentary series about the Jets. In the 2010 preseason, Taylor returned seven kickoffs for 175 yards and six punts for 58 yards and caught four passes. Despite this, he was cut from the team Friday, September 3 just before the last preseason game. When he cleared waivers, however, the Jets resigned him to their practice squad. Taylor was released from the team's practice squad on October 6, 2010 following the addition of Patrick Turner
Patrick Turner
Patrick Turner is an American football wide receiver for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
.
Calgary Stampeders
On February 14th, 2011 Taylor signed with the Calgary StampedersCalgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
for the 2011 CFL season.