Patrick Taylor: Servant, Husband, Running Back

Taylor entered his final season at Memphis billed as one of the better running back prospects for the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. As a junior in 2018, he was the backup to Darrell Henderson but still rushed for 1,122 yards with 18 total touchdowns in an absolutely loaded backfield that he also shared with Tony Pollard and Kenny Gainwell.

However, in the 2019 opener, Taylor suffered a dreaded Lisfranc foot injury – a tear of the ligament that connects the big toe to the second toe. For an athlete, it’s a nightmarish injury. Option 1 meant season-ending surgery but he’d be healthy for the draft. Option 2 meant he’d be out six to eight weeks. Taylor chose the latter.

While he returned to action after missing half the season, the injury didn’t heal properly. That meant a second procedure, this one done in Green Bay by Dr. Robert Anderson, was required before the 2020 draft. With Taylor expected to miss most, if not all, of his rookie season, he wound up going undrafted.

Indeed, while he practiced a bit late in the season, Taylor didn’t play as a rookie. Then, at training camp last summer, rookie seventh-round pick Kylin Hill blew past him on the depth chart to win the final spot on the roster. Taylor was banished to the practice squad, where he stayed until Hill suffered a torn ACL at midseason.

That set the stage for the Detroit game. His 1-yard touchdown run was his first time in the end zone since the 2019 Cotton Bowl.

“Man, I was really excited when I got in the end zone,” Taylor said. “I remember talking about it that whole week and I manifested it. ‘Hey, I’m going to score my first NFL touchdown.’ Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, they were excited for me when I got in the end zone. That was definitely a confidence-booster, just reminding me that I’m still able to play this game at a high level, I still have all the things that God’s blessed me with.”

Taylor knows all about handling adversity. He saw it first-hand as a kid. When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the region surrounding New Orleans in 2005, the Taylors’ extended family descended on their home in Houston. Taylor, who was 7 at the time, doesn’t know exactly how many people were there but it was perhaps more than 40 finding refuge following the historic disaster.

“It was crazy. All my family from Louisiana showed up,” Taylor recalled. “My mom and my dad, we opened up our home and everybody stayed there. People were sleeping on the floor, everywhere. Seeing my mom and dad and how they were so willing to open up their home to our family and feed our family, it’s something that I want to live by as far as being helpful and being a servant. When I saw them do that, it was like, ‘Dude.’ At the time, me being a kid, I was like, ‘I get to play with my cousins!’ I knew the significance of the situation. For them to open up their home was amazing.”

That servant attitude lives with Taylor today. Looking to make his mark in the community, he was pointed to Better Days Mentoring by Grey Ruegamer, the former Packers lineman who became the team’s director of player engagement in 2017.

“I go mentor the kids and play with them and try to be there and be an advocate for those kids,” Taylor said. “They would like to say, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s a celebrity.’ But I’m just like you were. I was a kid just like you. Being there and having them see that, that’s major.

“My big thing is you can make someone’s day just by being present. I think that’s really big. As small as it is, just being present and being in the presence of people that just love you and look up to you, you’re a role model for them. I feel like I’m a role model for the kids back in my hometown who have aspirations to go to the NFL or go to college or just want to be successful.”

Taylor and the rest of the veterans will report to training camp next week, with the first practice set for July 27. With Hill coming off the knee injury, Taylor will enter training camp as the No. 3 running back behind Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and in a strong position to not just make the roster but contribute.

“I feel so much more comfortable with the offense and knowing where certain holes are going to hit and being in tune with my body mechanics such as my cutting ability, reading the holes, being decisive and stuff like that,” Taylor said. “Having this past year under my belt, seeing the speed of the game isn’t as far as I thought it was from college. It’s just everybody’s fast, right? Being able to make that split-second decision quicker – you’ve got to hit that hole quicker or jump-cut out there – I feel a lot more confident going into this season.”

Patrick Taylor Extra Points

Photo courtesy Patrick Taylor

Patrick Taylor and his fiancée, Lauren, were married on Sunday, June 26, in Memphis. They met at a Bible study in 2018 while Patrick played on Memphis’ football team and Lauren on Memphis’ soccer team. Speaking before the big day, Taylor said:

“I’m trying to make sure everything’s A-OK with the lady, making sure everything’s squared away with wedding planning and making sure that I attend to her needs and making sure she’s not stressed out for the big day. ‘OK, baby, I’ll handle this for you.’ That’s really what I’ve been doing.”

Taylor has taken up golf. His goals for now are humble.

“I like to say that I’ll be able to play social golf. I am trying to shoot under 100 right now. I’m not a great golf player. As soon as you say you’ve got it figured out, then you go on the golf course and play awful. …

“I swing my sand wedge pretty well. Of course, I can hit the driver pretty well. I can hit the driver about 300 when I hit it well. I’m trying to make sure my golf game is right for when we play in charity events or I play some of my teammates, like Mason Crosby, so, when I go out there, I’m not looking completely new to the game.”

Taylor suffered a Lisfranc foot injury during the 2019 opener against Mississippi. He was given two surgical options, one that would sideline him for the rest of his senior season but have him ready for the 2020 NFL Draft, or one that would keep him out for six to eight weeks. Taylor chose the latter in hopes of rejoining his talented team for the end of the season. While he did return to the lineup, a second surgery was required and he went undrafted.

“If I had to go back and do it again, I would definitely do it the same way. I don’t regret any decision that I made to come back and play. I love this game so much. At the time, I was a 20-year-old athlete with aspirations of playing in the NFL. My first game, going out with an injury. ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ You tell a kid who’s 20 years old, ‘You’re going to have to have a surgery and you’re going to be out six to eight months. Or, you can have this other surgery and you can possibly come back this season.’ I’m going to take that deal nine times out of 10.

“Us athletes, we like to think that we’re superheroes and we’re on top of the world. ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ This is a gladiator sport. I feel like me going through what I went through in 2019 definitely set me up for where I am today with me about to get married to my fiancée that I met at Memphis.

“Who’s to say if I play and stay healthy that senior year, maybe I don’t go to a team as prestigious as Green Bay, falling into a great position, playing for Coach (Matt) LaFleur, playing for (running backs) Coach (Ben) Sirmans, being able to build that relationship with Gutey [GM Brian Gutekunst], having him have the confidence in me and my play to allow me to be on NFI [nonfootball injury list] for a whole year rehabbing and then come back the next year and have an opportunity to make the team. I would definitely do it over again. Yeah, it sucked, but I’m grateful for where I am.”

With the Packers, Taylor is part of the talented and fun-loving running back room headed by Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.

“We have a funny room. Everybody has their own personality. They’re all great guys. B.J. Baylor and Tyler Goodson, those guys are great, too. Kylin is a great guy. Everybody is able to bring to the table something completely different. All those guys can play ball at a very high level. We definitely have a great running back room. I’m really excited to be able to go out there and compete with these guys come training camp.”