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Jason Taylor explains how landscaping launched his football career

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones12/16/25brianjones_93

Jason Taylor can thank landscaping for helping him become one of the best pass rushers in NFL history. While appearing on the ManningCast with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning on Monday night, Taylor discussed how he began playing football after his high school coach saw him doing landscaping work.

“I was a basketball guy all my life. All I ever wanted to do was play basketball, play in the NBA,” Jason Taylor said. “Coach George Novak at Woodland Hills High School saw me doing some landscaping. I wasn’t great at it, do thank God he saved me from it, even though I still try to do it nowadays.

“I like being outside, I like working outside… Back then, they probably only paid me $5 for cutting the grass. It was a means to an end.”

Taylor didn’t begin playing football until his junior year at Woodland Hills in Pittsburgh. He then went on to play college football at Akron, where he was named to the All-MAC First team in 1995 and 1996.

Jason Taylor was a top NFL player in the 2000s

Because of his work in college, the Miami Dolphins selected Taylor in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He was with the Dolphins for 11 seasons and then spent time with Washington (2008), the Dolphins (2009), the New York Jets (2010), and the Dolphins again (2011).

In his career, Taylor was selected to the Pro Bowl six times and the All-Pro Team four times. He led the NFL in sacks in 2002, was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, and won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2007. Taylor is a member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

After his playing career ended, Taylor became a football coach. He spent time at St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) High School from 2017 to 2021 before joining the Miami Hurricanes‘ coaching staff in 2022. His current position at Miami is defensive ends/rush coach, and he’s getting ready for the team’s playoff game, which will be played on Saturday. The Hurricanes will take on Texas A&M at noon ET on ABC/ESPN.