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Jim Rome's Interview with Jason Taylor
8/28/01

Jason Taylor is a defensive end for the Miami Dolphins. Jason played college football for Akron and was drafted in the 3rd round by the Dolphins in 1997 and has been a starter ever since. Jason produced an incredible 14.5 sacks last season which helped him earn his first Pro Bowl honors. Jason was also selected as the Dolphins MVP for the 2000 season.

Jim Rome's radio interview with Jason Taylor (transcript). Please visit www.jimrome.com to find out more about the Jim Rome radio show and his TV show The Last Word. Jim Rome is not affiliated in any way with phinatics.com.

Jim Rome: Jason, great to have you on the show, thanks for joining us, how are you?
Jason Taylor: Good, how are you?
Jim Rome: Doing great, Jason, good to have you. The Dolphins, Jason, of course won the Division last year. You bring back essentially the same group of guys, but most are predicting the team to win 8 or 9 games this year. How is the team getting so little respect?
Jason Taylor: I don't know, it's been that way since I have been here and last year they thought we'd be 8-8 maybe, you know 7-9 or whatever and we went out and won 11 ball games and won the AFC East. So, we don't care what the critics have to say and some of the media, we just go out there each and every day and work our butts off and continue to win games.
Jim Rome: Jason, by the way I'm not sure that it's a horrible thing. I mean certainly you'd like a little more respect than that, but if everybody wants to bad mouth the club and disrespect the club you've got something to prove and you can usually build on that...it might not be the worst thing in the world.
Jason Taylor: Nah, you just kind of walk around with a chip on your shoulder trying to prove people wrong but, you know the respect thing, we're used to that. It's easy to for people to sit around and cry and moan because you're not getting respected, but it's another thing to go out there and kick people's butts and earn respect and that's what we're trying to do.
Jim Rome: Jason Taylor joining us. I think part of the reason for that, perhaps, is the schedule is pretty tough especially the first month of the season. You're at TN, you host Buffalo and Oakland, and then you go to St. Louis. The good news is you'll find out pretty quickly how good you are, the bad news is if you're not careful you could get buried
Jason Taylor: Yeah, our first month, you know the month of September is going to be a tough one for us, but that's part of what we do, you know it's another challenge and we all like to be challenged and this is a big one. But, we'll take it one game at a time and starting off with the TN game on the 9th of September, that's the most important thing to us right now.
Jim Rome: Jason, what about your personal situation, you can't really sneak up on anybody anymore. You may have been a 3rd round draft pick out of Akron, but now everybody knows who are because you are a Pro Bowler, you're coming off a year where you had 14.5 sacks, and now you finally got that big contract that you were working towards. Do you feel the added pressure of all that (a) Everybody does know who you are and (b) the expectations are huge because of a big contract?
Jason Taylor: As far as knowing who I am, that's what I wanted, so that's what you work for and now that it's here it's part of it. The pressure from the contract and things like that, I don't look at necessarily as a pressure side, you know, I think you get more responsibility when something like that comes along but as far as pressure is concerned I don't look at it as pressure. I have a responsibility to go out there and do my best each and every game and help this team win. And then, uh, that's what I have to do.
Jim Rome: That was the whole point, right? That's why you bust ass and you play hard so you can get some people to figure out who you are and recognize you for your efforts--that's the whole point.
Jason Taylor: Exactly, but it is harder to stay on top that it is to get there sometimes, so you gotta work twice as hard as you're used to and put in more time and be ready for all the unexpected things now -- the double teams and the chips and people knocking you if you don't do certain things very well. There will be more of a spotlight on you, but you deal with it.
Jim Rome: Jason Taylor of the Dolphins joining us. You know the Ravens just broke through last year with that great great defense and in fact led them to a Super Bowl. When you look at the nucleus of the Dolphins defense, yourself, you're locked up now, Daryl Gardener, Zach Thomas, Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison, Derrick Rodgers all signed through 2003. Do you think the Dolphins have that kind of breakthrough potential defensively? Might you have a defense that could be that dominate?
Jason Taylor: Yeah, I think so. Baltimore had a good defense last year and they got a bunch of good players. I think man-for-man that we have guys in this locker room that can match up with them evenly and we could be just as good as they were last year, but you know that won't be proven until we go to the Super Bowl and win it. That's what we're shooting for, and until we do that we can't sit here and, say, talk about how good we are.
Jim Rome: Jason, you'll take care of your own business and you'll worry about your defense, but on the other side of the football do you have the confidence that Jay Fiedler is the guy that cannot only get you to the post season but take you deep into the post season?
Jason Taylor: Yeah, I have the confidence. If something were to happen to Jay Fielder for some reason, whether it be injury or whatever, I think we have a good backup in Ray Lucas. We are very confident, we . . . I can't speak for everybody but personally I think our offense is better than Baltimore's offense was last year and you know if they can do it, why can't we? You know that's kind of how I look at everything--if it's been done before it can be done again, and if it hasn't been done before then it's my turn to do it.
Jim Rome: Jason, what about that proverbial question about the Division? It's so tough, I mean everywhere you go on the road in the AFC it's tough; there are no gimmes. Teams really knock the hell out of each other all year long. Does it get you ready for the post season or does it just get you beat up and beaten down before the playoffs?
Jason Taylor: Well, it can get you ready for the post season if you go out there and win the Division and get home field advantage and you know maybe the first round bye -- that's where it can be beneficial. Otherwise, like you said, you get beat up and then you're struggling to put together road wins in the playoffs and that's always a tough ticket. But it can be done again so we'll take it one game at a time. One of our goals as a team is to win the division and get that first round bye and have some home playoffs games. If we play at home, just like any team if they play at home throughout the playoffs, they have a real good chance of making it to the Big Dance.
Jim Rome: Dolphin Jason Taylor joins us. I have to imagine that off-season was pretty short. You went to the Pro Bowl, you got married earlier this summer, you signed a contract. Not a bad way to spend your off-season, but it probably felt pretty short.
Jason Taylor: Yeah, it did. It's all over now and we're back to business and I'm back to doing what I love to do. You know, being around the guys everyday and playing football and trying to get on the road to the Super Bowl. We want it so bad, and this is why we play the game. We don't play it just to go for the 16 regular season games and maybe a playoff game or two, you know, we are on a mission to win this thing and we will keep chipping away at it until we do.
Jim Rome: Hey, Jason, you married Zach Thomas's sister Katina, I mean that is classic. What's it like having your brother-in-law playing behind you on defense?
Jason Taylor: Um, really it hasn't been different than it has been in years past. Zach and I have been good friends for a long time. We're a little closer now because we are brothers-in-law. We don't talk about it much around here; we just do what we do. We go out and play ball and have a good time, and I guess I gotta see him a lot more off the field than I did before.
Jim Rome: It's a good thing actually that you're on the same side of the ball and the same team. Can you imagine for instance if maybe he played offense somewhere else and you had to kick the hell out of him -- I can only imagine how Thanksgiving dinner would go.
Jason Taylor: Yeah, I'd feel bad because I would have to beat up on him everyday knowing he can't beat me. But, it's uh, he's lucky he's on my team.
Jim Rome: Jason Taylor joining us on the program. The Dolphins with big expectation once again. Jason, good to have you on the show, good luck this season. Good to track you down.
Jason Taylor: Alright, thanks man take care.

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