Meet ÒBigÓ Ben Taylor
By John Ring
The Zephyr, Galesburg
I love interviewing
football linemen.
They always have something
to say because they never get any attention. They are often overlooked and
under appreciated. They work hard and are big guys.
Not that thereÕs many big
guys on the Silver Streak football team.
Ben Taylor is one of them.
At 6Õ3Ó and 285 pounds, Big Ben is an offensive left tackle. ÒIÕm the second or
third biggest on the team,Ó said Taylor after a Streaks practice on Saturday. ÒJordan
Warner, heÕs the biggest. HeÕs like 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds.Ó
Big Ben (I can call him Big
Ben because were buds now) understands his role with the Silver Streaks and the
anonymity of being a lineman. ÒThe best feeling an offensive lineman can get is
when your running back scores and he comes up to you and pats you on the helmet
and tells you Ôgood job.Õ Our running backs do that, theyÕre good guys, all of
them.Ó
ÒIf you make a great block
that allows your running back to score, most fans donÕt see it. Your teammates
donÕt see it. You know you made a great block but you get satisfaction from
your teammate recognizing you. Linemen shouldnÕt expect attention. I know that
I donÕt personally expect any so itÕs nice when it happens.Ó
Taylor and his offensive
line will be blocking for some speedy running backs, who are the strength of
this 2007 football team. Ricky Diggins , Zack Boehme and Rayvon Taylor are
several of those Ògood guysÓ that are counting on Big Ben.
As practice ended, the
Streaks ran sprints and the Good Guys were doing it effortlessly. The big guys
like Taylor labored but gave it a hundred per cent on a blistering hot day. ÒWhen
youÕre a big guy it makes a difference,Ó said Taylor about the sprints. ÒYou go
as hard as you can. Our coaches are great about monitoring our water breaks and
looking out for us.
Now a senior, Taylor has
been in the Silver Streak program for all three years at GHS. He hopes this
team doesnÕt make the same mistake the team from 2006 did. ÒOur big mistake
last year was making a goal of winning five games. We figured if we won five
games it would put us in the playoffs. Forget winning five games. We want to
make the playoffs no matter how many wins it takes.Ó
Taylor sees two intangibles
that will help Galesburg achieve that goal, despite having probably the
smallest roster in the Western Big 6. ÒHaving a coach here during the off
season helped us a lot. You need that at the high school level and having Coach
[Wes] Olson here helped out a lot. The other thing is our work ethic. Really,
the best thing about this team is the work ethic. Last year, the coaches had to
holler at us at times to pick it up. They donÕt have to do that this year.Ó
Big Ben will primarily play
offense— ÒThatÕs where IÕm needed, although IÕll play defensive tackle
but it would depend on thew situation. IÕll play anywhere the coach wants me to
in any situation. Football is the best team sport because you have eleven
players out there working as one unit. ThatÕs why itÕs so great to play this
game.Ó
Size is often over-rated at
the high school level, anyway. (ThatÕs easy for me to say because I donÕt have
to line up against someone a hundred pounds bigger than me.) But fact is, there
have been years where the Silver Streaks, on average, were taller and heavier
than many of the lines they went up against. One of those years, they finished
0-9.
And it was just two years
ago that another Galesburg newspaper did a big article on the size of GalesburgÕs line, about how
many three-hundred pounders they had. Trouble was, they couldnÕt run and couldnÕt
block and speedy Silver Streak backs were splattered on the turf as they
attempted to turn the corner and go upfield.
Now itÕs Big BenÕs turn.
And the Big Guys and the Good Guys will have a happy marriage on Van Dyke Field
for the upcoming season.
8/16/07