Taylor A Longshot For NFL Draft

On a rainy, Oct. 19 night at Rentchsler Field, Louisville punter Cory Goettshe boomed a punt to UConn's Larry Taylor. Taylor looked up into the sky and quickly waved his right hand in the air. Or did he?

Taylor's phantom fair-catch turned 71-yard touchdown scamper was played on every show on ESPN and written about in every major sports publication in the country. Millions of people witnessed Taylor's improbable punt return.

But perhaps Taylor's most important play of the year - at least for his draft stock - was made in front of just a handful of people.

The return specialist made a lasting impression on 17 NFL and CFL scouts at UConn's Pro Day on March 26 when he ran a 4.5 40-yard dash and pumped out an impressive 17 bench press reps of 225 pounds.

At just 5-foot-6, 175 pounds, Taylor credited his remarkable strength to a workout regimen he completed over winter break designed specifically to help increase endurance.

"I was maybe around six or seven [reps] going into the preparing and I got up to 17 with a lot of hard work, a lot of burnout repetitions, going until you can't go anymore," he said.

But despite the impressive showing - Taylor also looked good in pass and punt-catching drills - the "too small" label still follows him to the next level, as it did when he came to UConn.

Taylor enrolled in Storrs after a senior year at Glades Day high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that saw him rush for 1,774 yards and 28 touchdowns and average a mind-boggling 43.9 yards per kickoff return. He finished fourth in Florida's Mr. Football voting. But somehow, when Taylor got here, doubts arose.

He was too small. He wasn't a running back. He wasn't a wide receiver. He didn't have breakaway speed. But it quickly became clear that Taylor had something that few others possessed-the uncanny ability to make people miss.

"It's just something you don't have to teach me," he said. "It's an instinct, just a blessing from God."

And Taylor's blessing carried him far throughout his career at UConn. As a true freshman, Taylor immediately earned the job as the team's punt returner and didn't take long to silence his doubters. Taylor finished his freshman season averaging 16.4 yards per punt return and 31.3 yards per kickoff return, which ranked second in the entire country. He scored on a 68-yard punt return in UConn's Motor City Bowl victory over Toledo.

Fastforward three years, and Taylor stands alone in the middle of Bank of America field in Charlotte at the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Wake Forest punter Sam Swenk boots the ball to Taylor, who drops it. The ball rolls backwards, taking unpredictable bounces as Wake Forest defenders near. Taylor has been here before - or at least it seems so. He calmly retrieves the ball, turns around, splits two would-be Demon Deacon tacklers, and darts up the sidelines. Nobody catches him. Taylor has given the Huskies a 7-0 lead and ended his career where it started - with a 68-yard touchdown.

He may not have known it at the moment, but that punt return pushed Taylor into first-place on the Big East's all-time punt return yardage list, surpassing Miami's Santana Moss, who went on to average 11.5 yards per punt return in the NFL despite standing 5-foot-10, 195 pounds.

Maybe Larry Taylor isn't the biggest guy. Maybe he isn't even the fastest. But whatever team he ends up being drafted by in whatever league he ends up playing in should be forewarned that they aren't getting a game-breaking wide receiver or a grind-it-out running back. They're just getting a football player.

Contact Kevin Duffy at Kevin.R.Duffy@UConn.edu.