By Mark Eckel/Engagement Insider
When the 1995 college football season ended, the consensus top- ranked cornerback heading into the NFL Draft was Notre Dame’s Bobby Taylor.
Then there was the Scouting Combines and personnel workouts and various other non-game type events. By the day of the draft, Taylor fell all the way to the second round where he was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles, who traded up to take him with the 50th overall pick.
Five other cornerbacks and eight defensive backs total went ahead of Taylor.
So what happened?
“One of the things that for whatever reason hurt me, was when I came to ND I was a safety,’’ Taylor recalled. “I was one of the top high school safeties in the country and I played safety my freshman year in college. Then my sophomore year, Coach (Lou) Holtz changed me to cornerback.
“Then people started to say I was a tweener, was I a safety or a cornerback? But if they just watched the film they would have seen I could play both. I thought it was a positive, being able to play both, but I guess it wasn’t.’’
When it was all said and done, Taylor turned out to be one of the best cornerbacks in the draft, only Ty Law, of Michigan, who went late in the first round had a longer and more productive career.
It was still a strange day back in April of ’95.
“That was one of the first years of being an underclassmen and being able to find out what type of grade they would give you,’’ Talyor, who played 10 years in the league, nine for the Eagles and one for Seattle, said. “I took advantage of it, and all the grades came back first round. That’s why I made my decision (to leave school a year early). I didn’t work out at the Combines. But when I worked out in my personal work out I ran a 4.4, 40. I didn’t put up horrible numbers. It was strange to me, watching it and living through it. I still don’t know why I lasted into the second round. But I played a long time, I had a good career so I can’t really complain.’’
When it was all said and done, Taylor turned out to be one of the best cornerbacks in the draft, only Ty Law, of Michigan, who went late in the first round had a longer and more productive career.
It was still a strange day back in April of ’95. And a strange few months leading up to that day.
“I wasn't sure where I was going to go,’’ Taylor said. “I visited Seattle, Green Bay, Washington, and the Eagles. So I knew those teams had some interest. Eric Allen had just left the Eagles as a free agent and signed with the Saints, so corner was a need for them, but I didn’t know how much of a need they thought it was.’’
He found out, although a little later then he hoped. Taylor was invited to the draft in New York, but decided to stay home in Texas and watch it with family and friends.
“We went to a local community center, and we had a lot of people came by. It was nice,’’ Taylor said. “Then as the draft started it got a little frustrating. The worst part of my draft experience was Joe Theismann saying things about me on TV. He was just killing me. He kept saying I should have stayed in college, what was I doing in the draft. That really bothered me.’’
Finally, the frustration ended when the Eagles engineered a trade that sent wide receiver Victor Bailey and a mid-round pick to Kansas City for the second-round pick they used to select Taylor.
“Ray (head coach Rhodes) called and the first thing he said was ‘we didn’t expect you to still be there. Is something wrong?’ I said ‘everything is fine.’ I told him this was a decision he wouldn’t regret. I was determined that whatever team drafted me, I would be a starter from day one and make them happy they drafted me.’’
Taylor didn’t start day one, but he was in the lineup by week five and never came out for the next nine years.