There was physical pain. A lot of pain. But anything he felt in his foot paled in comparison to a totally different feeling: Irrelevance.
Patrick Taylor was a force at Memphis.
In a crowded backfield, he still ripped defenses for 1,988 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns his sophomore and junior seasons. He averaged north of 5.5 yards per carry. The plan as a senior, in 2019, was to dominate. To work his way into that first or second round on draft day.
With a torn ligament in his foot, however, he missed eight games.
The wait was torture.
“When you’re not playing,” Taylor says on a Zoom call with Go Long, “and on the field and scoring touchdowns and running the ball, people forget about you. … I’m used to getting the ball in my hands and scoring touchdowns. Getting the praise. I’m not a ‘praise guy,’ but it’s tough. People can say whatever they want but when you’re not out there? And not scoring touchdowns? And people aren’t saying your name like, ‘Oh, Patrick Taylor!’ That stuff’s tough, man. That’s tough to deal with.”
Even worse, he wasn’t himself when he returned.
Taylor looks down at his foot and memories resurface.
“This thing,” he says, “has been through hell and back.”
Now that he’s back? This second-year running back has a realistic shot to be the next undrafted star in Green Bay.
This is one element to the Green Bay Packers’ oft-criticized #WayOfDoingBusiness that’s been all but forgotten through the apoplectic media coverage this summer: No other franchise finds talent in such implausible places.
So much of what Ron Wolf, Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekunst have done as general managers seems to be under attack so, hey, it’s time to celebrate what they’ve done better than anyone else.
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