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Fred Taylor Biography - The Pride of the Jaguars | Jacksonville Jaguars

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Fred Taylor's Career

Fred Taylor's Career - 2007 Week 12 vs. Buffalo Bills Part 6

Fred Taylor was named a finalist for the Professional Football Hall of Fame in January of 2024 after a dazzling 13-year career with the Jaguars and New England Patriots.

Taylor was the No. 9 overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft and immediately showcased a rare blend of size at 230 pounds on a six-foot one-inch frame with the speed of a much smaller man. Taylor took the NFL by storm in his rookie season scoring 17 touchdowns including a dramatic 77-yard romp through the Miami Dolphins defense on the first play of his first ever Monday Night Football game. He added touchdowns of 52 and 78 yards against the Baltimore Ravens and his 70-yard game winning run up the Tampa Bay sideline in the fourth quarter was the game winner and his third score of the afternoon.

In all Taylor would score 78 touchdowns, among them 19 of longer than 30 yards and 14 longer than 50 yards including a 90-yard touchdown run in the 1999 AFC Divisional Playoff against the Miami Dolphins that is 24-years later still the longest touchdown run in NFL Playoff history.

Fred finished his career No. 17 on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 11,695 yards and all 16 of the running backs ahead of him are members of the Hall of Fame. He finished with seven seasons of more than 1,100 rushing yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry over his outstanding 13-year career which is the sixth highest total among running backs with more than 10,000 rushing yards.

Fred Taylor is congratulated by former Jaguars Owner Wayne Weaver after surpassing 10,000 career rushing yards following a Jaguars victory over the Titans in 2007.
Fred Taylor is congratulated by former Jaguars Owner Wayne Weaver after surpassing 10,000 career rushing yards following a Jaguars victory over the Titans in 2007.

During the 2000 season Fred became just the third running back in NFL history to run for at least 100 yards in nine consecutive games and 24 years later that streak is the fourth longest in NFL history. His 234 yards rushing and four touchdowns at Three Rivers Stadium in Week 11 of the 2000 season was the highlight of that run of 100-yard games and was the best performance by a visiting running back in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers vaunted home field.

In 2007 he connected five consecutive 100-yard games beginning in November and helped the Jaguars push their record from 7-3 to 11-4 and into an AFC Wild Card berth. In those five games he also scored touchdowns of 50, 62 and 80 yards plus the game winning 12-yard touchdown run in Pittsburgh which would be the first of two wins there in the span of 20 days making the Jaguars the first team to win in Pittsburgh twice in the same season.

Taylor is the Jaguars all-time rushing yards leader with 11,271 and the leader in yards from scrimmage with 13,632. He also contributed 51 games with at least 100 rushing yards, the most in team history.

Fred Taylor was inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars in 2012, becoming the second member of the Jaguars to see his name immortalized above the field where he shined on Sunday afternoons.

Relive the best moments in photographs of Pride of the Jaguars Running Back Fred Taylor's unforgettable career in Jacksonville.

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