Lombardi Award Winner Excels On and Off Field
IRVING, Texas – June 9, 2016 — The National Football Foundation (NFF) has nominated Aaron Taylor, founder of the Joe Moore Award and current college football analyst with CBS Sports, for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Taylor is one of 75 Football Bowl Subdivision candidates, of which only 9 are offensive linemen, nominated for the 2017 Class.
As a senior offensive tackle at Notre Dame in 1993, Taylor was the winner of the Lombardi Award, earned a unanimous first-team All-America selection in 1993 and was one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy. He also received Notre Dame Lineman of the Year Award from Moose Krause Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame and was voted by teammates as recipient of the Nick Pietrosante Award, given to the player who best exemplifies the courage, dedication and pride of the late All-American fullback. After starting 30 games straight to end his college career and earning his bachelor’s degree in sociology, Taylor was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of 1994 NFL draft and started on the team that won the Super Bowl in 1997.
“Based on his superior play on the field, there is no doubt that Aaron is a legitimate candidate for the Hall of Fame,” said Tim Brown, the 1987 Heisman winner from Notre Dame who was elected to the Hall in 2009. “Even more impressive is what he has done off the field, not only for college football but more importantly for children and others in need.”
After his playing career, he founded the Aaron Taylor Impact Fund, which strives to bridge the gap between those who have and those who need. In the spring of 2001, Taylor participated in a five-month volunteer placement program and taught English to high school students in South America. Taylor has won several awards for mentoring children and for his work with athletes in transition. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife, Lina, and their two children and, along with his leadership in furthering the Joe Moore Award and the Joe Moore Foundation for Teamwork, he is active in promoting awareness about sleep apnea.
“I applaud the NFF and the Hall of Fame for their focus on not just great football players, but great men – men who carry the ideals of football into society and contribute to their communities,” said Jimbo Covert, Pittsburgh offensive tackle and 2003 inductee into the Hall of Fame. “With all of his charity work and his dedication to his family, Aaron embodies that notion and is an obvious candidate for the Hall of Fame.”
The ballot for the 2017 Class was emailed last week to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers who can vote until June 20. Those votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Courts, which deliberate and select the class. The announcement of the 2017 Class will be made Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Tampa, Fla.