I really do like Ike Taylor. I appreciate his small school beginnings and his work ethic and the time he has put in to be a long-time Pittsburgh Steeler. I liked Ike even more earlier this year when he did the right thing and took a pay cut that helped not only the Steelers but also himself.
How did taking a pay cut help Ike Taylor? Simple… He would have been cut and looking for work elsewhere had he not taken less money.
Yesterday Taylor appeared on the “Jim Rome Show” which is a national radio program. He sounded anything but the man who was grateful to remain a Pittsburgh Steeler a couple of months ago.
“I’m ticked off about it, still am ticked off about it and I’m going to be ticked off until the end of the season about it,” Taylor said. “Did it hurt me? Hell yeah. Does it still hurt? Yeah, it hurts, but hopefully, I can go in and bounce back this year, do what I need to do on the field and we will see what happens after.”
What happens after? What happens after Ike is that you are likely sent packing unless you somehow turn back the hands of time but I don’t see that happening. Taylor continued by asking aloud “why him?” as he often spoke to Rome in the third person.
Taylor has always been a very good cornerback back but he’ll never be confused with being ‘great.’ Last year was one of his worst and while we can lay some of that on the feet of a pathetic pass rush, the fact remains that Taylor gave up tons of receiving yards last season.
Perhaps Taylor is a bit upset that the Steelers were reportedly interested in Brandon Flowers who had been cut by Kansas City. While Flowers never even made a visit to the Steel City, the fact that reports were out there may have rubbed Taylor the wrong way.
Even if that’s the case, Taylor needs re-think his comments. Going from $7 million per year to $2.7 million per year hurts. I get that, but no one put a gun to the head of Ike Taylor to take the cut. The Steelers have been very good to Taylor and in turn he was good to them. It should have been left at that but now I fear it might be getting ugly.
If it does, the only one who gets hurt will be Taylor.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard weekly on Trib-Live Radio talking Steelers and is a blogger for ESPN 970 in Pittsburgh.
