Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Cornerback Ike Taylor of the Pittsburgh Steelers intercepts a pass in front of wide receiver Darrel Jackson of the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL.
The son of former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor is on the road to following in his father’s footsteps with a college football career, having received scholarship offers from four major programs.
On June 9, Ivan Taylor took to Twitter to reveal that he has received an offer from the Pitt Panthers.
His father reacted to the news by replying: “GOD IS GOOD”
Ivan Taylor plays cornerback and free safety at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla., a suburb of Orlando.
He previously tweeted news of offers from the South Carolina Gamecocks, Ole Miss and the University of Michigan, the latter of which was the first to jump on board the Ivan Taylor bandwagon.
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Joey Porter Jr. is at Penn State
Of course, Ivan Taylor isn’t the only son of an ex-Steelers player with the potential to author an extended career in professional football. Joey Porter Jr. is a redshirt junior who plays cornerback at Penn State. And Quentin Lake (the son of former Steelers defensive back Carnell Lake) was drafted by the Rams three picks after the Steelers selected Cam Heyward’s younger brother in the sixth-round of the 2022 draft. Meanwhile, Gavin Greene — son of late Steelers linebacker Kevin Greene — had a tryout at Steelers rookie minicamp in May.
Ike Taylor ‘Couldn’t Catch a Cold in Alaska’
The elder Taylor, 42, was a fourth-round pick of the Steelers in the 2003 NFL Draft, selected No. 125 overall out of Louisiana. He spent the entirety of his 12-year career in Pittsburgh, starting 140 games and appearing in a total of 174 games. He finished his career with 636 tackles (518 solo), plus three sacks, two forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. But despite being a starting cornerback for nine seasons, he intercepted just 14 passes, this despite being responsible for 134 passes defensed.
Notably, Taylor never made the Pro Bowl during the course of his career, which he blames on his hands and his inability to come away with attention-grabbing interceptions.
“I couldn’t catch a cold in Alaska,” he admitted, during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show in November 2020.
But Taylor — a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Steelers — did intercept a Matt Hasselbeck pass early in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL, which helped the Steelers preserve a 14-10 lead en route to a 21-10 Super Bowl victory.
Ike insists that his son Ivan isn’t like him, at least not in terms of his ability to catch the football.
“My son can catch everything, so I guess I had to eat it in my generation — in my professional career — because my son, he don’t drop nothing. So that’s good, and I’m happy for that,” he told McAfee.
“I try to give him everything I didn’t do when I was playing as a professional,” added Taylor. “But I only have to tell him once. I’m a proud dad because of that because my mom had to tell me more than enough times and I just have to tell him once and he gets it.”
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