Lorenzo Taliaferro died this week at the age of 28. He will always be remembered by true Ravens fans:
Former Baltimore Raven, Lorenzo Taliaferro, passed away this week. This is a tragedy, no man should be taken from us at the age of 28. Taliaferro played in 19 regular-season games for the Ravens from 2014-2016. He got some chances with several other teams and even played in the Canadian Football League.
Taliaferro will always be remembered for the 2014 season where he got a sizeable chunk of the work in Gary Kubiak’s offense. Justin Forsett was the starting running back. Bernard Pierce and Taliaferro split the rest of the carries for Baltimore.
His career:
Taliaferro had a little bit of make you miss in his game but was mostly a downhill runner. He played with great effort. Taliaferro is a great example of how circumstances and luck can play into an NFL career. If it weren’t for injuries and things went just a little differently he could have been much like Gus Edwards.
Taliaferro was drafted out of Coastal Carolina and was a sixth-round pick. His 339 yards and five touchdowns were a very good return on the Ravens’ investment in him. Ozzie Newsome was very good at finding talent in the later rounds of the NFL Draft.
In fact, that may have been what Newsome did most consistently throughout his tenure as Baltimore’s general manager. The fact that Newsome saw something in him is a true compliment to the work Taliaferro did to make it to the professional level.
It wasn’t that long ago when you think about it. We were rooting Taliaferro on as he got into the end zone for a touchdown. He was such a young man, who surely had promise and much more to give the world outside of the gridiron.
Perspective:
This tweet by Ravens fan Tommy Pelle reminds us of something important:
I was at his first pre season game. Whenever he got the ball and the announcer would say his name you could hear his family go crazy. It was funny hearing his family go crazy regardless if he ran the ball for 1 yard or 10.
— Tommy Pelle (@Tommy_boi_13) December 17, 2020
Lorenzo Taliaferro was loved and supported. His family is surely grieving right now. Keep them in your thoughts, for it is truly an unspeakable sadness they have to go through. The best thing we can do is to remember the hard work and hard running that Taliaferro gave the Ravens. More importantly, just remember him as a person.
There really isn’t any great thing of wisdom to say in this kind of a moment. 28 is hauntingly young to pass away. Rest in peace.