Post by parkers3 on May 26, 2008 17:04:10 GMT -5
Source: hamptonroads.com/2008/05/cole-survivor-handed-second-life
Cole survivor handed a second life
Associated Press
May 26, 2008
By Pat Graham
DENVER--Charrod Taylor was on his way to the ship's mess hall with buddies when his commanding officer told him to return to the radar room to finish up his duties.
Obeying that order saved his life.
Taylor, now a defensive lineman for the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush, was on board the Norfolk-based destroyer Cole when the ship was rammed by an explosives-laden boat as it refueled in Yemen on Oct. 12, 2000. The terrorist attack killed 17 sailors - including a friend Taylor would have been with had he gone to the mess hall.
Even now, Taylor doesn't like to rehash the details.
"When you come that close to a situation, it shakes you up," Taylor says. "That..." He pauses, his right foot nervously tapping on the floor. "... could've been you," the 28-year-old finishes. "I'm blessed to live my life again."
He decided to make football an integral part of it.
At 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Taylor was an intimidating presence in high school, by far the biggest trombone player in the band. Taylor never played organized football until his senior year, preferring Mozart to Madden.
He turned out to be a natural, playing some linebacker but spending most of his time on the defensive line.
Given Taylor's late start in football, colleges weren't banging at his door with scholarship offers.
He enlisted in the Navy instead. Taylor had a grandfather who served in the Army, and an older brother who had followed a similar path.
He was stationed in Norfolk and became an operations specialist, learning the art of reading a ship's radar. Then, he headed out to sea aboard the Cole.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary the day the ship was attacked. Taylor was about to head off to lunch with his friend and supervisor, Timothy Saunders, when he was told to finish up an assignment.
The next thing he remembers was being jarred by the impact of the blast.
The explosion hit midships, ripping a hole near the mess, killing Saunders and 16 other sailors.
Taylor was in the next compartment over.
"You're never prepared for a situation like that, especially a cowardly situation," he said. "People don't have a chance to defend themselves."
Taylor hasn't been back on a ship since.
After the Cole was taken to a shipyard to be repaired, Taylor took an office job and then got out when his four years were completed.
He decided it was time to get serious about football.
Taylor wrote the coaching staff at Georgia Southern University and asked how he could make the team. The Eagles said he was welcome to go through open tryouts.
Taylor showed up at tryouts and immediately stood out among the other 100 walk-ons. By then, he was 260 pounds of muscle.
"He was an immense physical presence, built like a brick house," said former Georgia Southern defensive line coach John Pate. "He was rough in the beginning, but had innate ability. Just a pleasure to coach."
Taylor started out as a special teams player and worked his way into the starting lineup, making the All-Southern Conference team as a linebacker.
The New York Giants liked Taylor enough to invite him to camp last summer as a defensive lineman. He showed flashes of his talent for the eventual Super Bowl winners, but a foot injury cut short his stint with the Giants.
Crush coach Mike Dailey happened to be scouting the Giants for potential players and noticed Taylor's relentless play.
Dailey invited Taylor to give the AFL a shot. Taylor took him up on the offer and has 19-1/2 tackles and two sacks for the Crush, who are co-owned by John Elway.
"It's a little different," Taylor said of the league. "But I'm learning a lot."
"I hope he gets another opportunity at the NFL," Dailey said. "He's that caliber of player. If they give him another chance, and he takes what he's learning here, he can make it. I really think he could."
Taylor has tried to repress memories of the attack on the Cole that October day.
But it plays over and over in his mind, usually when he's alone after an exhausting day.
"I don't think you ever come to terms with almost losing your life," he said. "You find another reason to live life."
For him, it's his 4-year-old daughter, Kameron.
"That's my reason for being here," he said. "I was given a second chance so she could have a life. That's how I look at it."
Cole survivor handed a second life
Associated Press
May 26, 2008
By Pat Graham
DENVER--Charrod Taylor was on his way to the ship's mess hall with buddies when his commanding officer told him to return to the radar room to finish up his duties.
Obeying that order saved his life.
Taylor, now a defensive lineman for the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush, was on board the Norfolk-based destroyer Cole when the ship was rammed by an explosives-laden boat as it refueled in Yemen on Oct. 12, 2000. The terrorist attack killed 17 sailors - including a friend Taylor would have been with had he gone to the mess hall.
Even now, Taylor doesn't like to rehash the details.
"When you come that close to a situation, it shakes you up," Taylor says. "That..." He pauses, his right foot nervously tapping on the floor. "... could've been you," the 28-year-old finishes. "I'm blessed to live my life again."
He decided to make football an integral part of it.
At 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Taylor was an intimidating presence in high school, by far the biggest trombone player in the band. Taylor never played organized football until his senior year, preferring Mozart to Madden.
He turned out to be a natural, playing some linebacker but spending most of his time on the defensive line.
Given Taylor's late start in football, colleges weren't banging at his door with scholarship offers.
He enlisted in the Navy instead. Taylor had a grandfather who served in the Army, and an older brother who had followed a similar path.
He was stationed in Norfolk and became an operations specialist, learning the art of reading a ship's radar. Then, he headed out to sea aboard the Cole.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary the day the ship was attacked. Taylor was about to head off to lunch with his friend and supervisor, Timothy Saunders, when he was told to finish up an assignment.
The next thing he remembers was being jarred by the impact of the blast.
The explosion hit midships, ripping a hole near the mess, killing Saunders and 16 other sailors.
Taylor was in the next compartment over.
"You're never prepared for a situation like that, especially a cowardly situation," he said. "People don't have a chance to defend themselves."
Taylor hasn't been back on a ship since.
After the Cole was taken to a shipyard to be repaired, Taylor took an office job and then got out when his four years were completed.
He decided it was time to get serious about football.
Taylor wrote the coaching staff at Georgia Southern University and asked how he could make the team. The Eagles said he was welcome to go through open tryouts.
Taylor showed up at tryouts and immediately stood out among the other 100 walk-ons. By then, he was 260 pounds of muscle.
"He was an immense physical presence, built like a brick house," said former Georgia Southern defensive line coach John Pate. "He was rough in the beginning, but had innate ability. Just a pleasure to coach."
Taylor started out as a special teams player and worked his way into the starting lineup, making the All-Southern Conference team as a linebacker.
The New York Giants liked Taylor enough to invite him to camp last summer as a defensive lineman. He showed flashes of his talent for the eventual Super Bowl winners, but a foot injury cut short his stint with the Giants.
Crush coach Mike Dailey happened to be scouting the Giants for potential players and noticed Taylor's relentless play.
Dailey invited Taylor to give the AFL a shot. Taylor took him up on the offer and has 19-1/2 tackles and two sacks for the Crush, who are co-owned by John Elway.
"It's a little different," Taylor said of the league. "But I'm learning a lot."
"I hope he gets another opportunity at the NFL," Dailey said. "He's that caliber of player. If they give him another chance, and he takes what he's learning here, he can make it. I really think he could."
Taylor has tried to repress memories of the attack on the Cole that October day.
But it plays over and over in his mind, usually when he's alone after an exhausting day.
"I don't think you ever come to terms with almost losing your life," he said. "You find another reason to live life."
For him, it's his 4-year-old daughter, Kameron.
"That's my reason for being here," he said. "I was given a second chance so she could have a life. That's how I look at it."