Tracking the Preaux Career of Ike Taylor

[Turbine]

I suspect the guy calling the advertiser was none other than Ike Taylor.

When I first met Ike he went by the name Ivan and he was the most confident, self assured -shall I say- cocky, arrogent individual I have ever met. He was always bragging even in practice everthing was a competition. Ike thrived on outdoing the next person. In short Ivan was Ike's best sales person.

Once you met him you would never forget him.

He will tell you that Charles Tillman helped get him noticed, but I also believe it's this 24/7 selling of Ike by Ivan that got him really noticed by the NFL scouts. And no one (ok few) is/are more thrilled at his post UL success than I.

Gaux™ Ike

[Turbine]

Ike has an interception in the AFC title game.

Gaux™ Ike

[Cajun Express]

Yep, Mr. Plummer figured he be the weak link in the chain, he was WRONG.

[ier4p]

Ike T Playing In The Super Bowl Gooooo Ike Get That Big Ring.

[NewsCopy]

It turns out, Ike Taylor wanted to play defense all along. When Taylor was first spotted on the field for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in 2001, he was a swift running back on coach Jerry Baldwin's third UL squad. He had been on campus for two years, getting eligible, after a sterling high school career in football and basketball at New Orleans' Abramson High, when the Cajuns put him to work carrying the ball. "I always wanted to play defense," said Taylor, who played running back, defensive end, cornerback and place kicker at Abramson. "I just played running back to help the team out." Taylor finished that 2001 season with 323 yards rushing and three touchdowns, including scoring sprints of 65 and 48 yards, in addition to catching 18 passes and returning kickoffs for UL. But that was Baldwin's last season, and soon Rickey Bustle and his new coaching staff were evaluating talent for the 2002 campaign to come. "Coach (Gary) Bartel felt I had a shot to go to the NFL if I switched to defensive back," Taylor said. "I was physical, I was fast and I like to hit people. It just took time to work on my technique." It would be an understatement to say the move paid off. Taylor made 46 tackles and broke up eight passes that fall, showing enough promise for the Pittsburgh Steelers to select him in the fourth round (No. 125 overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft, and a week from today Taylor will start against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL in Detroit. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

FaceMeIke.com

[NewsCopy]

DETROIT — After two less-than-stellar seasons in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor went to training camp last summer with the intention of outworking everyone in the defensive backfield. Considering that Taylor will start at left cornerback in Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, you could say the mission was accomplished. Actually, the challenge the former University of Louisiana at Lafayette standout issued to himself wasn’t really a challenge considering where he’s come from and the path he took from his high school days in New Orleans. As a student-athlete at Abramson High, Taylor worked for his uncle’s construction and janitorial business — logging shifts that lasted from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. He did all kinds of janitorial and carpentry work and even painted on the way to becoming a foreman who oversaw 15 workers. After that, Taylor walked on to the football team at ULL and sat out two seasons to get his grades up before playing tailback and cornerback for the Ragin’ Cajuns in his only two seasons on the field. That work ethic helped Taylor make his pre-training camp declaration. “I just decided that I was going to work harder than anybody in camp,” said Taylor, a fourth-round draft pick of the Steelers in 2003. “I knew I had to work harder.” The rest of the story By SHELDON MICKLES Advocate Sports Writer

[NewsCopy]

DETROIT — In each of the past two years, the Pittsburgh Steelers went looking for a shutdown corner in the NFL draft. Two years ago, they took Ricardo Colclough in the second round; last year it was Bryant McFadden. But the one that emerged for the Steelers was already on their roster. In his third season, Ike Taylor has blossomed into the team’s best cover cornerback and one of the main reasons that the Steelers are preparing to face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL on Sunday. Taylor’s development has surprised even defensive backs coach Darren Perry. “I think any scouting department will tell you that if they draft a corner in the fourth round, they’re not expecting him to be a starter,” Perry said this week. Few knew that a cornerback who had only started two games in two years before this season would be able to match up favorably with two of the game’s top wide receivers in back-to-back playoff victories. Taylor helped hold Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson to 59 yards on four catches in the Steelers’ wild-card playoff win. The next week, he limited Indianapolis’ Marvin Harrison to three catches for 52 yards in the divisional round. Not bad for a guy whom the Steelers were just hoping could be a No. 2 corner in the NFL this year. “With a young player, sometimes they don’t understand the sense of urgency that you need to succeed at this level,” said Perry, a Penn State grad who played for the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX. “From Day 1 in training camp, he came in with a totally different mind-set, that ‘Hey, I want to be the No. 2 corner.’ ” He’s been better than that. Perry said that Taylor probably supplanted Deshea Townsend as the team’s top corner after Pittsburgh’s 27-13 win over Cincinnati on Oct. 23. That’s when Taylor held Johnson in check for the most part – the Bengals flashy wideout did finish with 94 yards, but had just four catches and no touchdowns. That seemed to be a turning point for Taylor. “It was in a way, but I feel like I go against some good receivers in practice,” Taylor said. “(I’ve been taking it) game by game. It’s like I have been learning on the go.” The 6-foot-1, 191-pound Taylor did take a long route to NFL success. He did not play football in his first two years at Louisiana-Lafayette, and when he did decide to walk on as a junior, he was used as a running back. It wasn’t until his senior year that Taylor was moved to cornerback. The rest of the story By ERIC KNOPSNYDER The Tribune-Democrat eknopsnyder@tribdem.com

[NewsCopy]

Randy McClanahan earned a Super Bowl ring when he and the Oakland Raiders whipped Philadelphia 27-10 in Super Bowl XV in the Louisiana Superdome after the 1980 season. Brian Mitchell got one when the Washington Redskins capped the 1991 campaign with a 37-24 win over Buffalo at the Minnesota Metrodome in Big One No. 26. Brandon Stokley had a big hand in earning his Super Bowl ring when he caught a 38-yard touchdown pass in the Baltimore Ravens' 34-7 domination of the New York Giants following the 2000 season. Will Ike Taylor be the next Louisiana Ragin' Cajun to be sized up for new jewelry? We'll know in a few hours, after Taylor's Pittsburgh Steelers tangle with the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 40 (XL) in Detroit. Most of the pregame attention on Pittsburgh has focused on the Motor City homecoming of Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, on quarterback "Big Ben" Roethlisberger, on big-play safety Troy Polamalu and on emotional linebacker Joey Porter. But, you never know about Super Bowl heroes. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

Ike saves TD gets Interception in the 4th

[RaisingCajun08]

Taylor making a tackle.

[RaisingCajun08]

Incomplete pass.