Darrell Taylor made his Bears debut Sunday at Soldier Field just 16 days after he was acquired in a trade with Seattle. He quickly showed off his playmaking ability with 2.0 sacks against the Titans, including a key strip-sack early in the fourth quarter. Get to know more about the defensive end as he talks with ChicagoBears.com about his "welcome to the NFL" moment, love for fishing, hidden talent and more.
What is the first thought that comes to your head when you hear "Chicago"?
Bears. Bulls. Literally sports — football and basketball. Growing up as a kid, that's always all I heard. Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls. That definitely is the first thing that comes to mind — sports.
It's crazy to say, but my aunt is a big Chicago Bears fan. When I got traded, she sent me a long message like, "oh my god, nephew." It was crazy. So, I'm excited to be here. I don't know where her fandom came from, but that's the only person I knew who was like a true diehard Bears fan.
Who were you most excited to play with here?
Montez Sweat. When I found out he was here, I was like, 'yo, that's crazy.' Dude established himself in the league as one of those guys. To be able to play beside him and D-Walk, all those guys, it's definitely different. I also knew about Jaylon Johnson, hearing about him being a top corner for a long time in this league and not getting the respect that he deserves. So I'm just excited to be here with these guys.
What was your first impression of the Bears' fan base?
Oh my god, man. It was lovely. You go through the ups and downs of a game. We started high, first half we was making some plays, and then it went down a little bit. Once [Daniel] Hardy got that blocked punt, the fans never stopped yelling after that. Being that I came from a place where the fans will go crazy, it was electrifying Sunday, just seeing how the fans stood up for us and seeing how they was having all that fun and watching us have fun on the field, too. It was pretty fun for me.
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?
I don't have any rituals, but I am superstitious. For this game, I was trying to find my swag for the game, and I found it. It's short sleeves with the navy blue leggings [underneath] and long socks halfway up the calves. Usually, I wear long socks all the way up to my knee. When I was in Seattle, I wore it all the way up to my knee. So I think now, I probably won't do that ever again. I feel like if I keep that same swag, I'm gonna keep playing like that.
Who is on your gameday playlist?
NBA Young Boy. That definitely gets me in that dark place to get ready to go out there and hit people real hard and chase down quarterbacks.
Who was your sports idol growing up?
When I was a kid, I was a New York Giants fan. So, Michael Strahan. I used to watch this dude do guys filthy when he came to pass rush, and that's what really made me play defensive end. I've played defensive end all my life and wide receiver when I was in high school. So when I got the opportunity to go to college to play defensive end, I'm like, 'man, I'm gonna be just like Michael Strahan.' He's always been my idol since I was a kid. And he had a gap, I have a gap. He was just my guy.
What significance does your No. 52 hold?
When I first got drafted to Seattle, they put me in No. 58. My rookie year, I couldn't play. I was out the whole year with an injured knee. So when I actually got to my first time playing, I felt like that number was bad luck. So I changed it from 58 to 52.
It was only because my mom wore No. 25 in high school, and she passed away to breast cancer when I was 16. So I felt like the inverse of that was the perfect number to wear.
What's the best advice you've ever received?
Stay even-keeled. Don't get too high. Don't get too low. Just stay even-keeled, even in the big moments and in the low moments, and that'll help you get through a lot of things.
Who told you that?
One of my veterans from Seattle — a guy named Leo Williams. He's a big guy. He's always got a lot of energy, but I've never seen a person who's always right in the middle all the time. Never too high. Never too low. He's made a freaking 10-, going on 11-year career of just getting contracts back to back to back. So that's what I want to do.
What was your "welcome to the NFL" moment?
My welcome to the NFL moment was me just running the tackle over and getting my first career sack [on Sept. 12, 2021]. It was crazy to be able to do that on my first sack — run a guy over and then jump over the guy and then hit the quarterback. It was crazy.
You played college football at Tennessee — what's your college football prediction this year?
My boys are going to the natty. You already see the numbers they're putting up, so I know they're going there. You know what I'm saying? We got that new young quarterback. Man, this dude is different. So I'm just excited to see them boys go ball. Coach Heupel there — great head coach, and he's commanded the program for the last few years. I'm just excited to see them just elevate each and every week.
What's on your bucket list?
I just want to travel the world. I'm going on Year 5, and I've only been three places. So for me, it's just traveling to places that I've never ever seen before, enjoying that and taking family with me, because they don't get to experience stuff like that all the time.
Where do you want to go?
Greece. Santorini. That's probably gonna be the first place, because it's so beautiful. I just can't get enough of nature.
Actually being here, I did not even know Illinois has so much wooded area and water. I've already found the best spots to fish — because I like fishing — and to just hang and chill. I get a peace of mind while I'm at the water. That's one of my favorite things to do to calm down and take a break from the football life.
Who got you into fishing?
My uncle — my dad's brother – when I was about maybe 10, 12 years old. He took me and one of my cousins to Newport News Beach. We literally fished off the pier. I had maybe a 4-pound, 5-pound flounder, and it literally almost pulled me off the pier. My uncle had to grab me, and he was like, 'give me the pole.' He got the fish out of there for me, but I was that weak. It almost pulled me off the pier and that was very scary for me because that beach had sharks and all of that stuff. So I was nervous.
Do you have a hidden talent or a random skill?
I could sing a little bit, and then I lowkey taught myself how to be a gymnast. I can do backflips and all of that stuff. I can literally just do it standing. I've always been able to do it. Me and my cousins, when we were little, we lived in the projects, so whenever our mattress got old, we literally just threw it on the side of the house and we used it to do stuff Simone Biles is doing. We were out there doing back handsprings off the thing — jumping, doing front flips off it.
You need to talk to Jonathan Owens so you can do a flip-off with Simone.
For real. They are gonna be surprised when they see it. She definitely would beat me, though. She definitely will. I cannot do what they do. I wouldn't even try.
Since you can sing, what's your go-to karaoke song?
I love R&B music. It's one of those genres of music that just always calms me down and keeps me even-keeled like my veteran told me to be. My song would be "I Gotta Be" by Jagged Edge. I would get on the mic, do my little 1-2 on there.
Finally, would you ever go to space if you had the chance?
Yes. I would definitely love to be closer to the stars just to see what it's really like being outside of Earth. That would be a crazy feeling. I would definitely be interested in doing that.
Who would be the best person to be stuck in space with?
'Tez. 'Tez! This dude is so funny. I got here the first day, and off the rip, I'm like, "this dude is funny." I would go anywhere with him because he's too funny. I know one thing we're gonna do is laugh and have a good time. If you're stuck in space, you just want to laugh and have a good time — 'Tez is definitely the guy for that. I promise.
