Dolphins fans have a great reason to pay attention to the later draft rounds this year: A familiar name may just scroll down your screen.
Noah Taylor, younger brother of Dolphins great Jason Taylor, is looking to break into the NFL next season. Taylor, 24, is competing for an invite to the Detroit NFL Super Regional Combine, which will be held April 12 and 13.
Taylor is also the younger brother of 790 The Ticket and 104.3 FM's Joy Taylor, a rising star in South Florida sports radio and a spokeswoman for the Jason Taylor Foundation.
Taylor signed with Youngstown State out of high school, but after two years of constant coaching changes and uncertainties, he opted to transfer. His high school coach, George Novak, helped him land at California (Pa.) in 2010.
"I told him I just wanted to play," Taylor said. "I'd rather get on the field. I've been waiting too long. I need to get on the field. I don't want to sit around and wait to play."
While Taylor is used to being asked about what it's like being Jason Taylor's younger brother, he's ready to get noticed on his own merit.
"It's not something you really want to separate from," Noah Taylor said. "You don't want to go too far from that. But you definitely want to make your own identity. It's one of those things: I've been living with it when I first put on cleats and I will live with it until I die -- the fact I'm Jason Taylor's little brother."
Taylor has a similar build to his brother Jason, though he's not as tall. He is working on molding his body for the tests the NFL will throw at him in the workouts leading up to the NFL Draft that will be held held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on May 8 to 10.
"It's one of those things where it's a 24/7, 365-day-a-year job," Taylor said. "You have to have the mindset to do it. There are some people that want to do it, but they'll go out and party and make mistakes. You're trying to separate yourself from thousands and thousands of other guys."
It certainly doesn't hurt to have a 15-year NFL veteran brother when preparing for what the NFL has in store. In addition to working with a personal trainer in South Florida, the younger Taylor is making sure he takes advantage of having Jason Taylor as a close adviser.
"He's probably one of the best mentors you could ask for, especially when you're trying to play the same position as him," Taylor said. "I try to talk to him as much as possible, to pick his brain, even if it's on little stuff like the food I eat. As crazy as it is, it's a mind you want to pick all the time. I'm very lucky I have him as a mentor."
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