Former Hoosier Taylor Sets AFL Milestones, China Next

Collin Taylor was shopping at a Cleveland mall not long ago when a group of about five kids stopped him in his tracks.

“C-T, right? You’re C-T!” they shouted, knowing they had spotted the Cleveland Gladiators’ standout receiver upon seeing his left arm covered in tattoos. The ink is a dead giveaway, but still, Taylor wasn’t convinced what was happening was real.

“Okay, where’s one of my teammates?” Taylor thought. Surely he was on the receiving end of some prank where the kids were paid to act like they knew who he was. Why else would they come sprinting up to say hello?

But Taylor didn’t see any familiar faces nearby. Nobody was laughing or filming his reaction.

The mini mob of fans was legitimate. The kids all wanted a chance to meet the former Hoosier who’s hauled in a touchdown grab in 29 consecutive Arena Football League (AFL) games.

“Any time something like that happens, I think it’s a joke. I never believe it,” Taylor said. “The tattoos probably help.”

Taylor, 29, is being stopped more and more often these days around Cleveland. He’s become one of the city’s more accomplished athletes three years into his tenure with the AFL's Cleveland Gladiators. Just last week, he caught his 400th career pass and scored his 100th career touchdown in the Gladiators’ 48-47 road win over the Jacksonville Sharks.

Six years into his professional career, Taylor has become one of the Arena League’s most electrifying offensive weapons. In a few months, the Carmel, Indiana, native will pack his bags in Cleveland and head to China to play for the Beijing Lions in the Chinese Arena Football League’s inaugural season. He was selected in the fifth round, 30th overall in the league’s June expansion draft.

Taylor’s professional career appears to be reaching a peak nearly a decade after being a walk-on, receiver-turned-defensive back at Indiana before finding his calling catching passes inside basketball gyms on 50-yard turf fields. He jokes about his newfound “celebrity status” now that he’s been on billboards and is getting recognized around Cleveland, but there’s some truth to it.

Because as a Hoosier, Taylor was a relative blip on the radar.

As a Gladiator, he’s become a star living out his dream.

***

“Man, I don’t feel like I’m 29 and out of college for six years,” Taylor begins, grasping where he’s at in his career.

It’s only a few days before Cleveland beat Jacksonville, a milestone game for Taylor in which he reached 404 career catches for 4,695 yards and 100 touchdowns—numbers most Arena League players never even get close to. Those are veteran statistics in a league where careers can start and end within a few months, let alone six seasons.

“It’s weird looking around and seeing a bunch of younger guys, then there’s me,” Taylor said. “Most of the guys I came in with have all retired or taken on different roles.”

But Taylor keeps going, hauling in pass after pass and lining up to do it all over again. He’s managed to make a living playing the game he loves in a city that’s embraced him.

His 100th score was highlight reel material, the type of play Cleveland fans have become used to seeing.

On fourth-and-10 from his own 17-yard line, Taylor took off from his running start behind the line of scrimmage—as is allowed in the Arena League—and sprinted down the field with the end zone in mind.

Taylor found space against prevent coverage, turned to find the ball right before he reached the end zone and made a leaping, off-balance grab for a score. He pointed up toward the rafters in celebration, shook hands with one teammate and hugged another before starting his jog back toward the Gladiators’ bench.

But before he could get there, another teammate, fellow receiver Quentin Sims, fell to his knees in front of Taylor and began to bow. Taylor stood back with his hands on his hips as another teammate, veteran receiver Larry Beavers, came and did the same.

Both felt it was only appropriate to pay homage as Taylor reached another career milestone in what has been an unexpected, steady climb toward Arena League stardom.

“I want people to be like, ‘Damn, you scored a touchdown in 29 games in a row? That’s crazy,’” Taylor said. “People are starting to understand like, wow, you’re in the top five in receiving in the league, and you’re just this white guy who played defense at Indiana. That’s cool!”

“It’s definitely cool to be an established athlete here in Cleveland, especially because athletics are so big right now.”

It’s not a particularly bad time to be an athlete in Cleveland right now.

The city is still riding the highs of LeBron James leading the Cavaliers to an NBA title. Taylor and his teammates were a part of the victory parade, riding on top of a float in front of about a million people lining Cleveland’s streets.

Taylor is by no means embraced like LeBron James or some of the other Cavs superstars being celebrated—not by any stretch. But his autograph lines at the end of Gladiators games have become the longest. He doesn’t like to leave before anyone who wanted a picture or a signature can have something to remember the game by.

“It’s a good thing that it’s gotten to a point where the security guards are like, ‘Okay, we need to leave now,’” Taylor said.

***

Like a good portion of the Arena League’s players, Taylor will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Unlike most of those free agents, Taylor already knows where he’s going—China.

Taylor will get a crash course in Chinese culture while teaching football to the locals as part of the Chinese Arena Football League (CAFL). Six CAFL teams will travel the country together playing six exhibition games, a playoff series and an all-star game featuring some of the American Arena Football League’s top players like Taylor.

“I just hope I can learn the language real fast,” Taylor said, only half joking. “I didn’t pay too much attention to the different language classes in high school.”

In the CAFL, Taylor sees an opportunity to travel the world all while continuing his professional football career. Although the league will be competitive, the American players will also be serving as both teachers and ambassadors for the game throughout China.

“I couldn’t have thought of a better scenario,” Taylor said. “It’s a dream come true.”

The trip to China shouldn’t impact Taylor’s American Arena League experience all that much. He’ll be a free agent, but he expects to return back to the U.S. for a seventh professional season once he’s done overseas.

Taylor said one of the most challenging parts about jumping into a new country with a new team will be learning a different playbook with different players. Beijing head coach Clint Dolezel, who also coaches the Philadelphia Soul, selected Taylor in the fifth round.

Coincidentally, it was the first time Taylor ever heard his name called during a live draft.

“Having (Dolezel) draft me, who’s like, a huge rival of ours, was really cool because it showed how much respect he had for me,” Taylor said. “It just goes to show you never know who you’ll impress.”

Among Taylor’s new teammates is his former quarterback Chris Dieker. As is Philadelphia cornerback James Romain, a rival on the field who Taylor said he has more respect for than just about anyone in the Arena League.

Taylor joked that it’ll take time getting used to rooting for a player like Romain who he’s had battles with in the past. Compared to being immersed into an entirely new culture, that part may not be as hard as Taylor thinks.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s all going to be like,” Taylor said. “It’ll be a life-changing experience. I know that.”

***

Being a part of the Cavaliers’ championship celebration was nice, Taylor said.

But he’d rather have one of his own.

Before Taylor can worry about China and all that comes with it, he’s eying an opportunity to keep Cleveland’s celebration going with an Arena Bowl championship. The Gladiators have the fourth-best record out of eight teams.

With three games left to play in the regular-season and every team assured a playoff spot, the next month is all about positioning.

“Now is a time where you have to be getting to your best,” Taylor said. “You have to be peaking.”

Though he’s excited about his new team in a new country, Taylor said he won’t even begin to put serious thought into it until he’s done leading the Gladiators as far as they’ll go. He said it’s the least he can do for Cleveland and everyone who’s allowing him to live out his professional football dream.

“I owe this city, these fans too much,” Taylor said. “I’m doing exactly what I want with my life right now. Who else can say that?”