Background
Taylor was born in Ashland, Kansas, in 1891. His father, Herbert Taylor, was employed as a bank cashier.
Taylor was born in Ashland, Kansas, in 1891. His father, Herbert Taylor, was employed as a bank cashier.
By age nine, he had moved with his family to Gainesville, Florida. Taylor played at the right halfback position for the Florida Gators football team of the from 1908 to 1912. The only UF player to earn five football letters.
Some describe him as the school"s first star athlete.
He was nominated though not selected for an Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team Taylor was picked as a halfback for an All-Time Florida Gators football team in 1927.
1909
Taylor kicked three field goals to beat the Jacksonville Olympics in 1909. 1910
He was captain of the 1910 team which suffered its only loss to Mercer.
1911
Taylor featured on the undefeated 1911 team captained by Neal Storter.
The team tied the South Carolina Gamecocks, defeated The Citadel Bulldogs, Clemson and the College of Charleston, declared themselves to be the "champions of South Carolina," and finished their season 5–0–1—still the only undefeated football season in the Gators" history. Taylor scored in the tie with South Carolina. Of the 84 points scored by Florida in 1911, Taylor scored 49: 25 points on the ground and 24 on field goals and points-after.
He also threw two touchdown passes.
His 8 field goals were a then school record, standing until 1974. 1912
He was also on the 1912 team which played in the Bacardi Bowl.
Taylor made a field goal. Taylor continued to reside in Gainesville, Florida.
As of June 1917, he was employed as a master mechanic for the Florida Industrial Corporation in Gainesville.
In 1920, he was living in Gainesville and employed as an engineer He died in Gainesville in 1955 after suffering a heart attack at age 64.
Taylor was described by contemporaneous newspaper accounts as a legendary broken field runner and a master of the hidden ball trick, who could drop-kick field goals "at seemingly impossible angles and distance." He is a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame.