Many people were surprised that Steelers CB Ike Taylor didn’t get the nod for the Pro Bowl this year. Taylor is having one of his best season ever.
Fellow teammate, Ryan Clark said, “How can the No. 1 corner on the No. 1 secondary in the NFL who is matching up against the No. 1 receiver … you can’t say No. 1 that many times and not get a guy to go to the Pro Bowl.”
“Ike has played the same way, I would say, for the past six or seven years,” Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. “He is solid every week. He usually draws the toughest opponent to cover, and he usually delivers. Corners at that position, you don’t stop every pass, every down. That is just the way it is. But he surely does get his percentage and more.”
Taylor follows the other team’s best receiver all over the field and gave up only two touchdown receptions all season. He held Wes Welker to four catches; Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson and Brandon Lloyd to three; and Reggie Wayne and Dwayne Bowe.
“I didn’t get in, that’s all,” Taylor said. “Obviously, I am not doing enough. I am going to continue to ask coach to put me on the team’s best receiver. My teammates, my coaches, they know what I can do.”
And that’s just how Taylor approaches a challenge.
Despite the accolades, Taylor frequently finds himself as the underdog but that’s okay with him, he welcomes a challenge. “I tell people you have to reach inside yourself for motivation. God certainly blessed me but I have had to work hard for everything I have.”
“When people talk about me or doubt me, it motivates me. I face them and don’t shy away from the challenge.” His philosophy is that by facing your fears, or challenges, head-on, you can overcome adversity.
“No question [playing in the Pro Bowl] is one of my goals, for sure,” Taylor said. “I am going to keep fighting until they tell me to put the cleats up.”
Given Taylor’s history of facing and overcoming challenges, we are expecting to him in the Pro Bowl in 2013.
But it’s clear that the Steelers believe he merits recognition for a job very well done this season. Taylor has long held his own against top competition, but widespread respect for his work has been slow to come, perhaps because Taylor, who has two interceptions this season, is not a ballhawk. However, he is a tough, skilled player who continues to play at a winning level for the Steelers, and he is their top cornerback.
