By Marty Gordon
After participating this past season in football, basketball, and track and field,Christiansburg High School’s Tyrique Taylor was named the school’s athlete of the year this past week.
As a football player standing 6’2” and weighing in at 225 lbs., Taylor was selected a first-team all-region defensive end, an honorable mention all-district and all region tight end, the News Messenger/News Journal all-county defensive lineman of the year.
Taylor led the Blue Demons with seven sacks while making 22 solo tackles and five tackles for loss.
In basketball, he was a first-team all-district and first team all-region player and scored in double figures nine times this past season.
In track and field, Taylor was a state qualifier in both shot and discus, placing third in the state for discus last year. He holds the school record for the discus with a throw of 153’4.”
All these awards and his success as an athlete came after Taylor often thought about quitting football. His freshman year, he was brutally honest in saying he thought about giving up on football.
“I guess it started earlier than that. I was always so much bigger than kids my age all the way back to recreation football. So, I never got to catch, run or throw the ball. I had to play the offensive and defensive line,” he said.
Growing up, he came from a home with a single mother and admits the family struggled. He credits his mother for being the driving force that kept him on the gridiron. “She was a great example for me and always had my back,” he said.
Taylor tore an ACL that freshmen year, so there was a second strike against the sport, and again he had his doubts about ever playing again.
“I said I never wanted to do it again, but thanks to my mom and coaches like (Zach) Leonard and (Alex) Wilkins I came back,” he said.
The coaching staff placed him on the line and even allowed him to play some at tight end. This is when the next step in his career started to make a little bit more sense. He became a natural at defensive end.
“The coaching staff created a family-type atmosphere, and I think that is something I needed,” he said.
In the classroom, Taylor maintained an “A” average and was consistently on Christiansburg’s honor roll.
“Sports being in my life helped me to maintain my grades,” he said.
Taylor will attend Emory & Henry College in the fall. His long-term goal is to receive his degree and become a teacher and maybe even a coach.
“I think I have a lot to offer other kids like me. I wanna be an influence on them like others were for me,” he said earlier this week.
He also reminded others that when things get tough, you can either sit down or run through it. Taylor chose to run through it and will carry that motto to the next level on the football field.
