Frederick Antwon Taylor (born January 27, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons from 1998 to 2010. He played college football for the Florida Gators and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars ninth overall in the 1998 NFL draft. Taylor played for the Jaguars and New England Patriots and is a member of the 10,000 yard rushing club. He is a co-host of The Pivot Podcast with friends, Channing Crowder and Ryan Clark.
Early life
Taylor was born on January 27, 1976, in Pahokee, Florida. He attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida, where he was a standout high school football player for the Glades Central Raiders. He was also a letterman in track. Taylor initially played linebacker, but switched to running back as a junior. As a senior, he ran for 1,700 yards and 22 touchdowns, including a 301-yard, 5-touchdown outing.
College career
Taylor accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's Gators from 1994 to 1997. Taylor started two games as a true freshman, picking up 873 yards and eight touchdowns. As a sophomore in 1995, he played in six games, gaining 281 yards and scoring five touchdowns. Taylor returned in 1996 to start two of the seven games he played, running for 629 yards and five touchdowns, and helping the 12–1 Gators win the national championship. He was inducted into the Florida–Georgia Hall of Fame in 2008, and the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2010. Taylor completed his final class on-line for his degree in sociology and graduated from Florida in the May 2024 commencement ceremony.
Professional career
Jacksonville Jaguars
Taylor was selected ninth overall in the 1998 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the first of two picks they acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Bills in exchange for quarterback Rob Johnson. Taylor started 12 of 15 games for the Jaguars as a rookie in 1998, rushing for 1,223 yards and 14 touchdowns, the latter total a career-high, while also catching 44 passes for 421 yards and three touchdowns.
In 1999, Taylor played in ten games, starting nine, missing six due to a hamstring injury. He ranked second on the team with 732 yards, but posted two 100-yard rushing performances in the playoffs. Taylor also recorded the longest run in playoff history with a 90-yard touchdown run in a 62–7 win over Miami. He missed three and a half games in 2000, but still finished sixth in the NFL with 1,399 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, while making 36 catches for 240 yards for another two touchdowns. Taylor played in the first two games of 2001 before suffering a groin injury and missing the rest of the season.
Overall, injuries caused Taylor to miss 23 out of a potential 48 games from 1999 to 2001. Fans and media were highly critical of Taylor's tendency to get injured, questioning his toughness and donning him the moniker "Fragile Fred", which deeply upset him, as he would later admit. Despite knowing that Taylor's season was over in Week 3 of 2001, Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin listed him on the injury report as "questionable" every game for the remainder of the season, further fueling the doubts of Taylor's toughness in the minds of fans.
Following the 2001 season, it was alleged that Taylor's agent William "Tank" Black had stolen between $12 million and $14 million from players he had represented, and that Black had laundered nearly all of Taylor's $5 million signing bonus, the only guaranteed money in his rookie contract. In an interview with Vic Ketchman of Jaguars.com in November 2007, Taylor admitted he seriously considered retiring from football early in his career, because of the difficulties he experienced with injuries and Tank Black.
On February 16, 2009, Taylor was released by the Jaguars after 11 seasons with the team.
New England Patriots
Taylor was signed to a two-year contract by the New England Patriots on February 27, 2009. He played in the first four games of the season for the Patriots, starting one, before suffering an ankle injury in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens. Despite the fact that the injury was expected to keep him out until late in the season, the Patriots chose not to place Taylor on injured reserve, and instead de-activated him. Taylor returned to the field for the Patriots' Week 16 matchup with his former team, the Jaguars, on December 27, 2009. He did not play until the fourth quarter, but managed to rush for 35 yards on 11 carries. He finished the season with 269 yards on 63 attempts and four touchdowns.
In 2010, Taylor played in the first three games of the season as a reserve before suffering a toe injury in Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills. He was inactive until Week 12 against the Detroit Lions, but did not play in that game. He saw his first snaps since Week 3 in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' Week 13 win over the New York Jets. Taylor played in seven games total, all as a reserve, running 43 times for 155 yards (3.6 yard average) and no touchdowns.
Retirement
On September 2, 2011, Taylor signed a one-day contract with the Jaguars in order to formally retire from the team that had drafted him ninth overall in 1998.
On June 7, 2012, the Jaguars announced that Taylor would become the second player inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars. He was formally inducted on September 30 during the team's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
NFL career statistics
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! rowspan="2"| GP
! colspan="6"| Rushing
! colspan="6"| Receiving
! colspan="6"| Fumbles
|-
! Att !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! FD !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! FD !! Fum !! Lost
|-
! 1998 || JAX
| 15 || 264 || 1,223 || 4.6 || 77 || 14 || 58 || 44 || 421 || 9.6 || 78 || 3 || 16 || 3 || 2
|-
! 1999 || JAX
| 10 || 159 || 732 || 4.6 || 52 || 6 || 38 || 10 || 83 || 8.3 || 41 || 0 || 4 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2000 || JAX
| 13 || 292 || 1,399 || 4.8 || 71 || 12 || 73 || 36 || 240 || 6.7 || 19 || 2 || 11 || 4 || 2
|-
! 2001 || JAX
| 2 || 30 || 116 || 3.9 || 24 || 0 || 6 || 2 || 13 || 6.5 || 11 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
! 2002 || JAX
| 16 || 287 || 1,426 || 4.6 || 63 || 8 || 47 || 49 || 408 || 8.3 || 72 || 0 || 15 || 3 || 2
|-
! 2003 || JAX
| 16 || 345 || 1,572 || 4.6 || 62 || 6 || 77 || 48 || 370 || 7.7 || 60 || 1 || 16 || 6 || 4
|-
! 2004 || JAX
| 14 || 260 || 1,224 || 4.7 || 46 || 2 || 48 || 36 || 345 || 9.6 || 64 || 1 || 17 || 3 || 2
|-
! 2005 || JAX
| 11 || 194 || 787 || 4.1 || 71 || 3 || 26 || 13 || 83 || 6.4 || 13 || 0 || 4 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2006 || JAX
| 15 || 231 || 1,146 || 5.0 || 76 || 5 || 46 || 23 || 242 || 10.5 || 36 || 1 || 8 || 3 || 2
|-
! 2007 || JAX
| 15 || 223 || 1,202 || 5.4 || 80 || 5 || 45 || 9 || 58 || 6.4 || 18 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
! 2008 || JAX
| 13 || 143 || 556 || 3.9 || 34 || 1 || 24 || 16 || 98 || 6.1 || 17 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 1
|-
! 2009 || NE
| 6 || 63 || 269 || 4.3 || 19 || 4 || 13 || 2 || 17 || 8.5 || 13 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
! 2010 || NE
| 7 || 43 || 155 || 3.6 || 24 || 0 || 9 || 2 || 6 || 3.0 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! colspan="2"| Total || 153 || 2,534 || 11,695 || 4.6 || 80 || 66 || 510 || 290 || 2,384 || 8.2 || 78 || 8 || 97 || 27 || 18
|}
Franchise records
's NFL off-season, Taylor held at least 42 Jaguars franchise records, including:
- Rush Attempts: career (2,428), season (345 in 2003), game (37 on 2005-09-25 @NYJ), playoffs (127), playoff game (33 on 1999-01-03 NWE), rookie season (264 in 1998), rookie game (33 on 1999-01-03 NWE)
- Rush Yards: career (11,271), game (234 on 2000-11-19 @PIT), playoffs (612), rookie season (1,223 in 1998), rookie game (183 on 1998-12-06 DET)
- Rush Yds/Att: career (4.64), playoff season (6.62 in 1999), playoff game (7.5 on 2000-01-15 MIA)
- Rushing TDs: playoffs (3), rookie season (14 in 1998), rookie game (3 on 1998-11-15 TAM)
- Rush Yds/Game: career (80.5), season (107.6 in 2000), playoff season (124 in 1998), rookie season (81.5 in 1998)
- Total TDs: season (17 in 1998), playoff game (2), rookie season (17 in 1998), rookie game (3 on 1998-11-15 TAM)
- Yds from Scrimmage: career (13,632), playoffs (682), rookie season (1,644 in 1998)
- All Purpose Yds: career (13,640), playoffs (682)
- 100+ yard rushing games: career (51), season (9 in 2000), rookie season (3), playoffs (7)
- Games with 1+ TD scored: season (12 in 1998), playoffs (12)
- Games with 2+ TD scored: season (5 in 1998), playoffs (5)
- Games with 3+ TD scored: season (2 in 2000), playoffs (1)
- 1000+ rushing yard seasons: career (7)
Personal life
Taylor is a first cousin of former NFL wide receiver Santonio Holmes. His son, Kelvin Taylor, also played college football at Florida and is a former NFL running back who was signed to several teams.
In November 2023, Taylor joined Tim Tebow as a co-owner of a planned Jacksonville USL Championship soccer club.
See also
- Florida Gators football, 1990–99
- List of Florida Gators football All-Americans
- List of Florida Gators in the NFL draft
- List of Jacksonville Jaguars first-round draft picks
- List of New England Patriots players
- List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
References
External links
- The Pivot Podcast Youtube Channel