Running back Fred Taylor signed a one-day contract to enable him to officially retire as a Jacksonville Jaguar after 13 years in the NFL.
Veteran running back returns to Jaguars to retire from NFL
Running back Fred Taylor signed a one-day contract to enable him to officially retire as a Jacksonville Jaguar after 13 years in the NFL.
Jacksonville's best ever running back spent 11 years with the Jaguars before joining the New England Patriots for two injury-plagued final seasons, which confirmed to him that it was time to retire.
Taylor ran for 11,695 yards overall in his career, from 2,534 carries, putting him 15th on the NFL's all-time list of yardage-making rushers, while also scoring 66 touchdowns in 153 games.
A holder of a number of team records in Jacksonville, Taylor is the Jaguars' leading career rusher with 11,271 yards, and also holds the record for most single-season yards (1,572 in 2003) and most single-game yards (234 against Pittsburgh in 2000).
After leaving the Patriots, the Jaguars allowed Taylor to sign a one-day contract with him that ensured he would officially retire with the team - as he did with a tearful farewell in front of friends, family, staff and players on Friday.
Pride
"This is an extremely special moment for me," Taylor said. "It's unreal. It's a moment that I knew would come. I wouldn't have wanted any other way. I've always known that I would retire as a Jaguar. It's amazing how time goes by."
Taylor actually thought about trying out for another team this year, but a couple of hard sessions were enough to discover it was time to call it a day.
"When I saw the CBA I said I need to turn it up," Taylor added. "I can get into camp somewhere that's going to be a piece of cake and then a couple days, I trained hard for about a week and then I realised I'm not as young as I once was. The healing process, recovery, it's a little longer.
"I was like who am I fooling?"
Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver paid a glowing tribute to Taylor and the impact he had on the team he spent over a decade at.
"He really was the heart and soul of this team in some of our early years," Weaver said. "We want to strive to get back to where we were back in those days. Fred Taylor clearly is a standard bearer to represent that."
Taylor's jersey number will be just the second to go into Jacksonville's ring of honour - The Pride of the Jaguars - following on from offensive lineman Tony Boselli.
