Ike Taylor

Ivan "Ike" Taylor (born May 5, 1980) is a former American football cornerback.

He joined the football team as a walk on in 2001, earning a scholarship prior to the season.

In his first season, he played tailback and special teams and returned kicks.

Prior to his senior season, Taylor asked to be moved to cornerback.

He started the season at the right cornerback spot and recorded 46 tackles, eight passes defensed and two forced fumbles.

In four games, he did not allow an opponent to catch a ball.

Among his college teammates was Charles Tillman who was drafted by the Chicago Bears.

He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and spent his entire 12-year career in Pittsburgh.

He played college football at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

He was formerly an analyst for NFL Now and other shows on the NFL Network.

Ike was born in Gretna, Louisiana, which is located just across the Mississippi river from New Orleans.

As a child, he moved with his mother, Cora, to Raleigh, North Carolina, but he returned to Louisiana as a seventh-grader to live with his uncle and aunt, Herman and Judy Francois, in Harvey, Louisiana.

He attended Marion Abramson Senior High School in New Orleans where he played football and basketball.

In high school, he played running back, defensive end, cornerback and placekicker.

Taylor attended college at University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he majored in psychology, but he was academically ineligible to play football his first two years.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Taylor in the fourth round (125th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft.

His selection was made despite his inexperience and lack of consistent play and was based primarily on Taylor's rare combination of size and speed.

Leading up to the draft, he was timed allegedly as fast as 4.18 seconds in the 40-yard dash at his pro day., However, most NFL coaches and general managers still failed to see his potential.

At the time of the selection, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Mark Madden claimed Taylor was the worst pick in history.

On May 28, 2003, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Taylor to a three-year, $1.18 million contract that included a signing bonus of $275,000.

Throughout training camp, he competed against Chidi Iwuoma to be the fourth cornerback on the depth chart.

Head coach Bill Cowher named Taylor the fourth cornerback on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Chad Scott, Dewayne Washington, and Deshea Townsend.

He was also given kick return duties by special teams coordinator Kevin Spencer.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens and recorded two combined tackles in their 34–15 victory.

Taylor also returned two kicks for 29-yards.

In Week 8, he returned six kicks for a season-high 145-yards during a 33–21 loss against the St. Louis Rams.

On November 23, 2003, Taylor earned his first career start at nickelback and recorded four combined tackles in the Steelers' 13–6 victory at the Cleveland Browns in Week 12.

He remained at nickelback for the remainder of the season after Chad Scott was placed on injured reserve due to a torn flexor tendon in his right hand.

He completed his rookie season in 2003 with 32 combined tackles (26 solo) and three pass deflections in 16 games and one start.

Taylor also had 37 kick returns for 831-yards (22.46 YPR).

During training camp, Taylor competed for a role as a backup cornerback against Ricardo Colclough, Terry Fair, Chidi Iwuoma, and Shane Walton.

Head coach Bill Cowher named Taylor the fifth cornerback on the depth chart to start the 2004 season, behind Deshea Townsend, Chad Scott, Willie Williams, and Ricardo Colclough.

On October 3, 2004, Taylor recorded a tackle and made his first career interception off a pass by Carson Palmer during a 28–17 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4.

In Week 7, Taylor was promoted to being the fourth cornerback on the depth chart after Chad Scott sustained a slight tear to his quadriceps the previous week and was sidelined for the next nine games (Weeks 8–16).

The following week, Taylor made two combined tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Tom Brady in the Steelers' 34–20 victory against the New England Patriots in Week 8.

Taylor finished his second season with 16 combined tackles (ten solo), four pass deflections, and an interception in 13 games and one start.

He also had 12 kick returns for 184-yards.

The Pittsburgh Steelers finished first in the AFC North with a 15–1 record after rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became the starter and went 13–0 to end the season.

On January 15, 2005, Taylor appeared in his first career playoff game and made one tackle in the Steelers' 20–17 victory against the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Round.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were eliminated the following week after losing 41–27 to the New England Patriots who went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX.