In an alternate universe, Ike Taylor may have been playing his football near our nation’s capital.
During a recent episode of the Bleav in Steelers podcast, Taylor explained that it was Washington, not Pittsburgh, that first informed him it intended on drafting him in 2003.
“Washington was the first team that called,” said Taylor. “They were like, ‘We’re about to draft you.’ Then the next phone call came from that 412 and you know when it came to that 412, Coach [Bill] Cowher and Kevin Colbert said, ‘How would you feel being a Steeler?’ I said, ‘Oh well, there goes Washington.’”
Drafted in the fourth round, 125th overall, it’s easy to say now that the Steelers got a steal in Taylor. A key player in both of Pittsburgh’s most recent successful Super Bowl runs, it’s difficult to imagine the team without him.
As a brash, loud shutdown corner, Ike Taylor’s playstyle and attitude fit perfectly with the team’s menacing defense as well as the blue-collared fans of Pittsburgh.
It is interesting, however, that Washington was the team that first called him. Due to a flurry of trades during the 2003 offseason, the-then Redskins only made three picks in the draft selecting Taylor Jacobs in the second round, Derrick Dockery in the third and Gibran Hamdan in the seventh.
Unless the team thought Taylor would fall out of the draft completely, something Taylor himself believed as he said on the podcast, Washington would almost definitely have needed to find a trade partner. However, as I said before, the regime in Washington that offseason was extremely aggressive in the trade market, so it wouldn’t have been shocking to see them make a move.
“God blessed me, Mark,” said Taylor to co-host Mark Bergin. “I’m so happy I got drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
While Taylor spent most of his time praising the city of Pittsburgh, his teammates and the Rooney family, he should be equally as happy he became a Steeler due to the success he had.
A two-time champion who became a Super Bowl hero in XL after intercepting Matt Hasselbeck, Taylor wouldn’t have lived as happy a life in Washington.
In his 11 NFL seasons, Washington was under .500 eight times, only ever making it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. On the flipside, Pittsburgh was only below .500 once during the span — Taylor’s rookie season – earning seven trips to the postseason.
One thing is for sure, both the Steelers and Taylor are happy they found each other.
