This article was written by me for This Given Sunday ( http://www.bloguin.com/thisgivensunday/2011-articles/december/miami-de-jason-taylor-ready-to-retire-will-he-dance-with-the-stars-at-the-hall-of-fame.html )
According to the Miami Herald, Jason Taylor plans on hanging up the cleats (or dancing shoes) after 15 seasons. Taylor is now 37 at the end of his career and currently sits 6th on the all time sack list with 139.5
Taylor was named the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the 2007 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. Taylor has been on several successful and not so successful Miami Dolphins team and will certainly be considered when discussing HOF candidates. In Taylor’s prime there were very few who could rush the QB as well as Taylor. JT always seemed to show up on the biggest of stages as some of his best games came against Tom Brady.
Despite his age Taylor has still been affective as a pass rusher as he has piled up 7 sacks this year. Taylor was a Pro Bowl player six times in his career and returned six fumbles for touchdowns, which is the most in NFL history as well as three interception returns for scores.
Taylor will be remembered mostly for his years in Miami where he and his brother in law Zach Thomas led very strong Dolphins defences to a couple of division championships. In his later years as a Jet, he reached the AFC championship game falling one game short of the Super Bowl.
While Taylor will not be a first ballot HOF he will certainly garner consideration. The fact that Taylor never won or went to a Super Bowl might be held against him despite being one of the most dominant defensive players of his time. rex Ryan on JT: “a no-brainer Hall of Fame player…we only had him one year, but he had such a positive effect on this football team”
With one game remaining in the season, the NFL credits Taylor with 139.5 sacks, 577 total tackles, eight interceptions and three defensive touchdowns.
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