Fred Taylor ( American football ) Frederick Antwon Taylor ( born January 27 , 1976 ) is a retired American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League ( NFL ) for thirteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s . He played college football for the University of Florida , and was recognized as an All - American . Taylor was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the ninth overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft , and played for the Jaguars and New England Patriots of the NFL . Early years . Taylor was born in Pahokee , Florida . He attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade , Florida , where he was a standout high school football player for the Glades Central Raiders . Taylor initially played linebacker , but switched to running back as a junior . As a senior , he ran for 1 , 700 yards and 22 touchdown s , including a 301 - yard , 5 - touchdown outing . He received Florida " Super Senior " and all - state honors . In 2007 , 13 years after he graduated from high school , the Florida High School Athletic Association ( FHSAA ) recognized Taylor as one of the " 100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years " of Florida high school football . College career . Taylor accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , where he played for coach Steve Spurrier ' s Florida Gators football team from 1994 to 1997 . He started two games as a true freshman , picking up 873 yards and eight touchdowns . As a sophomore in 1995 , he played in six games , gaining 281 yards and scoring five touchdowns . He returned in 1996 to start two of the seven games he played , running for 629 yards and five touchdowns , and helping the 12 – 1 Gators win the national championship . As a senior team captain in 1997 , Taylor was the team ' s leading rusher with 1 , 292 yards on 214 carries and scoring 13 touchdowns , earning first - team All - Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) recognition and Walter Camp first - team All - American honors , and was chosen by his teammates as the Gators ' most valuable player . He finished his college career ranked fourth in school history with 3 , 075 yards and 31 touchdowns . In one of a series articles about the top 100 Gators from the first 100 seasons of Florida football , " The Gainesville Sun " sports editors ranked Taylor as the No . 36 all - time greatest Gator . He was inducted into the Florida – Georgia Hall of Fame in 2008 , and the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 2010 . Professional career . Jacksonville Jaguars . 1998 – 2001 . Taylor was drafted ninth overall in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the first of two picks they acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Bills in exchange for quarterback Rob Johnson . Taylor started 12 of 15 games for the Jaguars as a rookie in 1998 , rushing for 1 , 223 and 14 touchdowns , a career high , while also catching 44 passes for 421 yards and three touchdowns . In 1999 , Taylor played in ten games , starting nine , missing six due to a hamstring injury . He ranked second on the team with 732 yards , but posted two 100 - yard rushing performances in the playoffs . He also recorded the longest run in playoff history with a 90 yard touchdown run in a 62 - 7 win over Miami . He missed three - and - a - half games in 2000 , but still finished sixth in the NFL with 1 , 399 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns , while making 36 catches for 240 yards for another two touchdowns . Taylor played in the first two games of 2001 before suffering a groin injury and missing the rest of the season . Overall , injuries caused Taylor to miss 23 out of a potential 48 games from 1999 to 2001 . Fans and media were highly critical of Taylor ' s tendency to get injured , questioning his toughness and donning him the moniker " Fragile Fred " , which deeply upset him , as he would later admit . Despite knowing that Taylor ' s season was over in Week 3 of 2001 , Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin listed him on the injury report as " questionable " every game for the remainder of the season , further fueling the doubts of Taylor ' s toughness in the minds of fans . He still has not completely rid himself of the stigma and the nickname . Following the 2001 season , it was alleged that Taylor ' s agent William " Tank " Black had stolen between $ 12 million and $ 14 million from players he had represented , the majority of whom were University of Florida alumni , and that Black had laundered nearly all of Taylor ' s $ 5 million signing bonus , the only guaranteed money in his rookie contract . In an interview with Vic Ketchman of Jaguars . com in November 2007 , Taylor admitted he seriously considered retiring from football early in his career , because of the difficulties he experienced with injuries and Tank Black . 2002 – 2004 . In 2002 , Taylor rebounded to start all 16 games for the Jaguars , finishing the season with 1 , 314 yards , third most in team history , while setting a then - team record with 1 , 722 yards from scrimmage . He also set a career high with 49 reception s , second best on his team , for 408 yards , and also recorded eight touchdowns . He again started all 16 games for the Jaguars in 2003 and set a career high with 1 , 572 yards on 345 carries for six touchdowns . He also caught 48 passes for 370 yards . In 2004 , Taylor started the first 14 games of the season , recording 1 , 224 yards and two touchdowns . His streak of 46 consecutive starts ended when a knee injury sidelined him for the final two weeks of the season . 2005 – 2008 . Injuries hampered Taylor again in 2005 , as he started 11 games while missing five games with injuries throughout the season . He still led the team with 787 yards rushing while also recording three touchdowns . In 2006 , Taylor was joined in the Jaguars backfield by Maurice Jones - Drew , the Jaguars ' second - round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft and Taylor ' s eventual replacement . Despite sharing carries throughout the season , Taylor started 15 games and posted a 5 . 0 yard - per - carry average with 1 , 146 yards on 231 carries for five touchdowns . He also added 23 receptions for 242 yards and one touchdown . Together , Taylor and Jones - Drew combined for 2 , 087 yards , the most by two rushers in Jaguars history . As a team captain in 2007 , Taylor rushed for 1 , 202 yards on 223 carries , a career - best 5 . 4 yards - per - carry average , in 15 games started . On November 11 , Taylor surpassed 10 , 000 yards career rushing in a game against the Tennessee Titans . Taylor rushed for five straight 100 - yard games in late November and December , earning him AFC Offensive Player of the Month honors . He tied for first in the NFL with four rushes of 50 - plus yards and finished with two of the four longest rushes in the NFL in 2007 . Following the season , he was named to the Associated Press second - team All - Pro team and was named to the 2008 Pro Bowl as an injury replacement , the first such honor of his career . In his final season with the Jaguars in 2008 , Taylor started the first 13 games of the season before being placed on injured reserve for the first time in his career with a thumb injury on December 11 . A team captain for the second straight season , Taylor surpassed both the 11 , 000 yards career rushing and 13 , 000 career all - purpose yards milestones on the year . He finished the season with 556 yards on 113 carries ; meanwhile , Jones - Drew , now a third - year player , rushed for 824 yards on 197 carries . After his 2008 season had ended , when asked about his future with the team , Taylor said , " All of that still has to handle itself . I don ' t know how it ' s going to play out . " Taylor said that it was clear to him that the organization was headed in " another direction " as a result of his reduced role with the team and the rise in his salary that was due to receive if he had remained on the roster . On February 16 , 2009 , Taylor was released by the Jaguars after 11 seasons with the team . New England Patriots . Taylor was signed to a two - year contract by the New England Patriots on February 27 , 2009 . He played in the first four games of the season for the Patriots , starting one , before suffering an ankle injury in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens . Despite the fact that the injury was expected to keep him out until late in the season , the Patriots chose not to place Taylor on injured reserve , and instead de - activated him . Taylor returned to the field for the Patriots ' Week 16 matchup with his former team , the Jaguars , on December 27 , 2009 . He did not play until the fourth quarter , but managed to rush for 35 yards on 11 carries . He finished the season with 269 yards on 63 attempts and four touchdowns . In 2010 , Taylor played in the first three games of the season as a reserve before suffering a toe injury in Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills . He was inactive until Week 12 against the Detroit Lions , but did not play in that game . He saw his first snaps since Week 3 in the fourth quarter of the Patriots ' Week 13 win over the New York Jets . Taylor played in seven games total , all as a reserve , running 43 times for 155 yards ( 3 . 6 yard average ) and no touchdowns . Retirement . Taylor signed a one - day contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday , September 2 , 2011 , in order to formally retire from the team that drafted him ninth overall in 1998 . On June 7 , 2012 , the Jaguars announced that Taylor would become the second player inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars . He was formally inducted on September 30 during the team ' s game against the Cincinnati Bengals . Personal . Taylor is a first cousin of NFL wide receiver Santonio Holmes . Taylor ' s son , Kelvin , is currently a running back at his father ' s alma mater , Florida .