EverythingTop10 is proud to present, “The Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Jonathan Taylor!”
#10. Taylor holds nearly every rushing record at New Jersey’s Salem High School.
He rushed for 4,642 yards and 51 touchdowns during his time at Salem High. In 2016,
he was a New Jersey first-team All-State selection thanks to rushing for 2,815 yards as a senior,
which set a South Jersey single-season record.
#9. Coming out of Salem High School, the 5-feet 11-inch running back was the No. 24 ranked running
back in the country and New Jersey’s No. 8 overall high school football recruit. Despite setting all
types of running back records at Salem High School, Taylor was only a three-star recruit.
#8. At Wisconsin, Taylor became the first player in FBS history
to rush for 6,000 yards in just three college football seasons. Upon leaving the Badgers, Taylor
was sixth all-time in career rushing yards in NCAA football with a total of 6,174 from 2017 to 2019.
Taylor set a variety of records at Wisconsin, including the most rushing yards by a freshman
with 1,977 and the most rushing yards as a sophomore with 2,194. In addition, Taylor is
only the third football player in FBS history to record multiple 2,000-yard rushing seasons.
#7. Taylor was an incredible talent at Wisconsin. He was named Big 10 Running Back of the Year twice
and Big 10 Freshman of the Year. He twice won the Doak Walker award as college football’s top
running back. Yet, things could have been much different for Taylor and the Wisconsin Badgers.
Taylor originally committed to Rutgers in 2016, but after the Scarlet Knights got off to a poor
start that season, the running back withdrew his commitment. The Salem High School star committed
to Wisconsin instead and went on to becoming a three-time All-American for the Badgers.
After decommitting to Rutgers, Taylor said, “I never really thought that I had fully evaluated
all my options." Taylor’s options ended up being Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and Yale.
#6. In November of 2021, it was revealed that Taylor’s girlfriend is Ayanna Chapman. The two
have been together since they both attended Salem High School. Taylor met Chapman when he
was just 15 years old. Although Taylor had posted pictures of Chapman on social media previously,
little is known about her. What is known about Chapman is that she played on Salem High School’s
field hockey team. While Taylor played football for the Wisconsin Badgers,
Chapman attended Ball State University, where she was a political science major.
For the most part, the couple have kept their relationship on the down low over the years.
#5. Taylor’s father, Jonathan James, was an athlete too. James went to San Francisco State
University and played for the Gators from 1982 to 1986. James’ career as a basketball player seems
to have ended after finishing his time at San Francisco State. It is James’ failure to move
onto the NBA that may have led to him pushing Jonathan hard to become a success in sports.
#4. The future Indianapolis Colts star didn’t run track until his sophomore year of high school.
Although Taylor was fast, he got even faster once he joined the track team in the 10th grade.
During his junior and senior track seasons, Taylor won the 100 meters at the Meet of Champions.
He was twice named New Jersey’s fastest man in the state. He ran the 100 meters in 10.61 seconds
to win the state title in 2016. Taylor ran the 100 meters the following year in 10.63 seconds.
The 2017 state title final was contested with a two and a half mile-per-hour headwind.
#3. Had football not worked out for Taylor, he may have had a future career in science.
He double majored in astrophysics and physics at Wisconsin. The running back loves science
and became interested in studying stars during his freshman year of high school.
He wasn’t just a top high school athlete. He was also a top student and member of Salem's
international baccalaureate program. Yale was one of the universities Taylor short-listed
before committing to Wisconsin. He likely had the grades to succeed at the Ivy League school.
#2. When Taylor arrived on campus at Camp Randle,
he was relatively unknown outside of the coaches’ offices at Wisconsin. Initially,
the coaches wanted Taylor to leave high school early and begin scrimmaging with the Badgers
during spring practice. However, Taylor turned down the chance to join up with the team early.
The running back’s education was important to him and he wanted to finish the International
Baccalaureate program at Salem High School before starting his college football career.
Upon joining with the team for its first scrimmage under the lights at Camp Randle,
Taylor scored a touchdown on his first carry playing with the number 2 offense. The coaches
switched Taylor to the number 1 offense a few possessions later and on one of his first plays
from scrimmage, the running back took a 70-yard screen pass to the house for a score. After that
scrimmage performance, Taylor was immediately named the Badgers’ starting running back.
#1. Taylor is an explosive running back. At just 5-feet 11-inches and 226 pounds, Taylor relies
on his speed, agility, and durability. One of the ways that he trained to improve these three
attributes is by completing a unique cold-weather training program. His cold-weather workout was
designed by the fitness experts at Under Armour. In April of 2020, he was a member of a group
of Under Armour sponsored athletes to train in sub-zero temperatures. The training program took
Taylor and company to Mount Rainier National Park, where they spent four days training.
The group experienced grueling snowy and icy hikes while carrying heavy backpacks. In
addition, they completed meditation sessions and cold-temperature breathing exercises. Taylor and
the other members of the Under Armour cold-weather training group also built ice caves for shelter.
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