Before he became a member of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame class of 2015, James Taylor was just a running back out of Citronelle trying to decide what came next after a standout career at Alabama. The advice that shaped that decision, he says, came straight from legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.
“Get a job. That’s what he told me,” Taylor said, a hint of a laugh in his voice, recalling the moment Bryant pulled him aside as he prepared to test his chances at pro football.
Bryant wasn’t dismissing Taylor’s talent. At one point Taylor held the highest per-carry rushing average of any running back in Crimson Tide history. Instead, Bryant was thinking about Taylor’s long-term security, and Taylor says he’s grateful for it all these years later.
Taylor’s path to Tuscaloosa started with a single season of high school football in Citronelle. He played only in 1971, but it was enough to earn All-County and All-State honors and a spot in the Alabama High School All-Star Game. From there, he joined Bryant’s program and became part of three SEC championship teams, appearing in three consecutive bowl games. The 1973 squad shared the national championship with Notre Dame, back when titles were decided by wire-service polls rather than a playoff.
After graduation, both the New York Giants and New England Patriots showed interest in Taylor. But he came up in an era when players outside the first or second round of the NFL draft rarely saw big paydays. “Yeah, you probably weren’t going to make a lot of money,” Taylor said. “Coach Bryant told me if I went to the pros with no insurance and nobody to back me, I was taking a big risk.”
The stakes were personal. Taylor’s father died when he was 8 years old, leaving his mother, who had only a third-grade education, to raise 10 children largely on her own. Whichever of the kids could work did, which is part of why Taylor only played that one season of football in Citronelle before family responsibilities took priority. He made the All-Star Game anyway, in part because former Alabama linebackers coach Pat Dye didn’t want other programs getting a long look at him.
Taking Bryant’s advice to heart, Taylor moved into banking for a few years after football, then into trucking, focusing on dump trucks, before realizing the real opportunity was in general contracting. He built a career there instead, one he and his wife of 34 years, Susan, are now winding down.
The couple raised four children who went on to their own successful careers: a doctor, a nurse, a restaurant area manager and an assistant coach in professional football. Taylor’s induction into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame this week caps a life that started on the practice fields of Citronelle and stretched through championship seasons in Tuscaloosa to decades of building a business back home in South Alabama.