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Michael Taaffe Gives Emotional Explanation On What It Means To Be a Longhorn, Reflects On Cotton Bowl Loss

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Crissy Froyd | Last updated Jan 13, 2025 12:19 PM ET

Michael Taaffe is plenty well-known for what he has accomplished on the field as a player, but he wants to be remembered as so much more than that.

In fact, being recognized for just about anything else seems to be what Taaffe wants the most. Wearing the burnt orange means the world to him, as he expressed after the 28-14 Cotton Bowl loss, and he hopes to have embodied that as a person and a teammate.

"Emotionally, that hurt, never being able to play (another game) with those guys ever again wearing the burnt orange. We talked about it, this team is not over. We're going to stay together... we're always going to have each others backs. But this season is over and that hurts a lot."

Taaffe's journey has been one for the books, almost Stetson Bennett-esque, if you will.

"I came in here as a walk-on and now I'm an All-American," Taaffe said. "But I don't care about that. I care about love of my teammates. That's truly all that In care about. Those are cool accolades, but hearing that a teammate loves me is so much cooler."

The Longhorns safety expressed that he gets so much more out of other things.

"And it's so much more fulfilling in your heart as a teammate, as a leader, as a guy. Football is the best sport in America. It is the best sport to ever be created because you get faced with real life adversity, real life challenges."

He does not want to be remembered for the greatest pass breakup or interception that he ever recorded, but wants to leave a legacy for the intangibles and holding up a Texas standard that he says he believes is paralleled by no other in the country.

"I care about this team. I could give a crap about success," Taaffe said. I care about significance. I care about when I'm 60 years old, somebody talking about how Michael Taaffe was a legend at Texas because of what he did off the field, what he did as a leader in that locker room. Not for what plays he made on the field, but being significant."

While others may view entering the NFL Draft after this as a major opportunity for Taaffe, he sees the move as almost "selfish." His words continue to echo his selflessness.

So it sucks that I have to make a selfish decision on myself (for the 2025 NFL Draft)."

Taaffe is a name many have been watching leading up to that event with the amount of promise he has shown, but based on the latest rumblings, many are leaning toward the possibility that he will be coming back.

And there's no question he'll be leaving it all on the field if he does so as Texas looks to run it back after falling just short of a national title game appearance for two consecutive years.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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