Jason Taylor 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year

With a rare combination of determination, charisma, athleticism and good looks, Jason Taylor has taken the sports and entertainment worlds by storm and won’t look back. Since being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1997, this home-schooled “Pittsburgh kid” has become the greatest pass rusher in the storied franchise’s 41-year history, one of the most feared defenders in the National Football League and a rising star away from the gridiron. But above all else, it is Taylor’s big heart that endears him to the South Florida community and moves one of the area’s most popular figures to give back through the Jason Taylor Foundation.

Taylor’s athletic accomplishments are seemingly endless. Most recently, he was named the 2006 Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the highest honor bestowed on a defensive performer. In addition, he has received All-Pro honors on four occasions, started in five Pro Bowls, appeared on numerous All-NFL Defensive Teams and has been named the NFL Alumni Association’s Defensive Lineman of the Year in consecutive seasons (2005-06). He is the Dolphins all-time career sack leader with 106 and counting, was the NFL’s sack champion in 2002 with 18.5 and with 89.5 sacks since the 2000 season, is the NFL’s most prolific pass rusher this decade. USA Today Sports Weekly rated him as the top defensive lineman in the league prior to the 2003 season and Pro Football Weekly named him the NFL’s best defensive end entering the 2005 campaign. He has been honored as the Dolphins’ Most Valuable Player on three occasions, was the club’s Leadership Award winner once and is a three-time champion of the NFL’s “Ultimate Defender” competition. In 2004, Jason’s college alma mater, the University of Akron, inducted him into its Ring of Honor, making Jason just the third person in school history to receive such recognition.

Away from the field, Jason has been equally as successful. In addition to serving as the official spokesperson for the Neutrogena men’s line of products, he is a Brand Jordan Sports member of “Team Jordan,” is the face of McArthur Dairy Milk, has been a featured model in several national print ad campaigns, as well as Men’s Health, GQ, Ocean Drive and FHM magazines and has appeared on MTV Cribs, Wheel of Fortune, BET’s 106 & Park, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Entertainment Tonight and most recently made a cameo appearance in the box office smash Jackass: Number Two. Jason was also a regular participant in the “N’SYNC Challenge for the Children,” was named one of the “10 Hottest Men in Sports” by Sports Illustrated for Women, and was ranked in the Top 20 Best Looking Male Athletes by a panel of Sports Illustrated swimsuit models.

Over the course of his ten-year career with the Dolphins, Taylor has worked with numerous charitable organizations, including the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, United Way, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, First Book, Habitat for Humanity and the Urban League of Broward County. In the spring of 2002, Jason participated in two USO Tours during which he visited military bases and hospitals in Kuwait, Iraq and Germany and in 2004 he hosted the first-ever Jason Taylor Celebrity Golf Classic, raising nearly $150,000 for the Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami.

Following the inaugural golf classic, Jason and his wife, Katina, decided to extend their charitable efforts. On July 30, 2004, they officially formed the Jason Taylor Foundation in an effort to build a better future for the children of South Florida.

The Jason Taylor Foundation has made long strides in a short period of time. Holtz Children’s Hospital has officially renamed its learning center as “The Jason Taylor Children’s Learning Center,” eight sixth grade students have been awarded college scholarships as a result of the Foundation’s work with Take Stock in Children, hundreds of student athletes have been treated to inspirational films as part of the “Big Screens-Big Dreams” program and in September of 2006, 60 deserving children were each given a $300 back-to-school shopping opportunity at Old Navy as part of the “Cool Gear for the School Year” program. Jason has been recognized by The Sporting News in each of the past two years, receiving an annual “Good Guys” award and following the 2005 season, the Miami Dolphins selected Taylor as their NFL Man of the Year Award nominee for his community service activities as well as his excellence on the field.

Taylor, who enjoys boating and golf, currently resides in Davie, FL with his wife, Katina, their sons, Isaiah and Mason and daughter, Zoe.