Billy Taylor ( Canadian football running back ) William " Billy " Taylor is a former professional American and Canadian football running back who played for Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League after starring for the University of Michigan Wolverines . At Michigan , he became an All - American and broke the school record for career rushing yardage and finished second to Tom Harmon in scoring . University of Michigan . Born in Hoxie , Arkansas , Taylor spent his early years in Memphis , Tennessee until his father ' s death in 1954 when Taylor was five years old . His mother moved the family to Barberton , Ohio . After graduating from high school , Taylor attended the University of Michigan where he became one of the most accomplished football players in school history . He was an All - Big Ten selection three times and a first team All - Big Ten selection two times ( 1969 and 1970 ) . Taylor broke the Michigan career rushing record with 3 , 072 yards in three seasons . His record was broken six years later by Rob Lytle . His 587 carries was also a school record at the time he graduated . He finished his U - M career second to Tom Harmon with 32 career touchdowns and 194 points . He also set the school record in average rushing yards per game at 102 yards per game . He rushed for 1 , 297 yards in his senior season ( 1971 ) and was selected as the team MVP . In the last two minutes of the 1971 Michigan - Ohio State game , Michigan was trailing , 7 - 3 , when Bo Schembechler called Taylor ’ s number . Taylor ran around the end and into the end zone , and Michigan won to cap an undefeated regular season . “ It was every kid ’ s dream , ” says Taylor , remembering what it was like to score the winning touchdown . During Taylor ' s years they had excellent offensive linemen such as Dan Dierdorf , Reggie McKenzie , and Jim Mandich . Taylor was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 1971 Michigan football team that went undefeated in the regular season ( but lost 13 - 12 to Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl game ) . The team was ranked in the top 5 all season and had four All - Americans . Although Taylor played in 33 games at Michigan he only carried the ball in 30 of them . His 3072 yards in 30 games gives him a 102 . 3 yards / game average which was a Michigan average until Mike Hart established a new standard in his career ending in 2007 . In 1969 , Taylor rushed for 225 yards against the University of Iowa . At that time , Ron Johnson was the only Michigan player who had rushed for more yards in a game . Downward spiral and substance abuse . On January 4 , 1972 , just a few days after Taylor ’ s final game as a Wolverine , his mother died . “ After my mother died I didn ’ t want to play anymore ” says Taylor . He played in a post - season game at Coach Schembechler ’ s encouragement . O . J . Simpson , who was broadcasting the game , told Taylor to call home . When Taylor called home he discovered that his uncle had killed his aunt and then himself . Late that same summer , his girlfriend , Valerie , was stabbed to death outside a roller rink in Detroit . Taylor wrote in his autobiography that football injuries and deaths of close family members sent him on " a long downward spiral of depression , drinking , drugs and encounters with the law . " Taylor was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 1971 NFL Draft , but he had a poor training camp with the Falcons . He was traded to the St . Louis Cardinals , put on injured reserve , and finally cut . After a season with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League where he played in two games and totaled 62 yards rushing on seven carries , three reception s for 27 yards and three kickoff return s for 59 yards , his football career was over . Taylor went into a downward spiral that lasted 25 years . “ I self - medicated ” , says Taylor . Taylor managed to get his Masters in Education , get married and have three children , but he suffered from depression , divorced his wife , became isolated from his children , and eventually became homeless . He hit a low when he was convicted for having knowledge of a bank robbery and spent 2½ years in a federal penitentiary . He became an addict living on the streets of Detroit , cut off from friends and family . Rehabilitation . In August 1997 , Taylor reports he had an experience with God . “ It was August 17 , 1997 . It was 5 a . m . I was sitting in front of an abandoned apartment building at the corner of Lakewood and Jefferson . I was drinking vodka and Black Label beer . I heard a voice . The voice said , ‘ William Taylor , come forth . ’ I heard it as clear as we ’ re talking now . It scared me to death . I jumped straight up in the air . I started cursing and looking for the person who had scared the daylights out of me . . . . It was God . I don ’ t want to offend anyone , but that ’ s my testimony . ” He stopped drinking and taking drugs that day and published a book about his experience called " Get Back Up : The Billy Taylor Story . " In 2003 , Taylor received an Ed . D . degree from the University of Nevada , Las Vegas . He has held several positions at the Community College of Southern Nevada . Most recently , Taylor was the Director of Rehabilitation Services for the Salvation Army Southeast Michigan working in Detroit and Pontiac , Michigan .