Ike Taylor hasn't forgotten Tim Tebow play that burned him

Five months after Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor allowed Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas to beat him with an 80-yard touchdown reception from Tim Tebow, Taylor doesn't want to be remembered solely for that play.

By Josh Katzowitz

Jun 25, 2012 at 9:43 am ET • 1 min read

Taylor called his playoff appearance last year the worst game at the worst time. (Getty)

The 80-yard touchdown pass Tim Tebow completed to Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas in the opening seconds of overtime in the AFC playoff game last season has sparked a fair amount of debate around the CBSSports.com water cooler.

Was Tebow’s throw incredibly awesome? Was that a pass anybody could have completed? Did Thomas deserve most of the credit? Was Tebow’s leadership of men the main reason Denver advanced past Pittsburgh that day?

Whichever the case, we know the main culprit on the Steelers who allowed the play to proceed without much impediment. That would be Ike Taylor, who was covering Thomas on the play. He hasn’t forgotten the feeling of that moment. He hasn’t forgotten who he thinks was at fault and for having the worst game at the worst possible time.

"I remember it every day," Taylor told the New Orleans Times Picayune. "People remember you for things you do, and I don't want to have that game be what people remember me for."

After the season, Taylor restructured his contract with the team, but that doesn’t mean he’s less vital to the Steelers secondary this year. He’s still Pittsburgh’s top cornerback. A mess-up against the Broncos won’t change that.

But for now, it’s hard for him to forget that he allowed Thomas to catch the ball and then took a stiff-arm from Thomas en route to the end zone. Surely, Taylor wasn’t entirely at fault, especially since every other Steelers defender was in five yards of the line of scrimmage expecting a run and Taylor had no help over the top. But I can understand why he’d feel that way and why he won’t forget about it until he has some measure of redemption.

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