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Future's All to Billy Taylor

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Parent Issue
Day
8
Month
August
Year
1976
Copyright
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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Future's All to Billy Taylor

most all my life but I really wasn't
wise. A wise man fears God and fol-
lows His path while an intelligent
man leans on his own understand-
ing. ..„__.

BY NEIL KOEPKE
News Shorts Writer

MILAN — Billy Taylor rarely re-
calls ihi da^s when he was a football
hero at Michigan.

Billy Taylor rarely thinks back to
the time in his life which he refers to
as "the nightmare."

Billy Taylor just looks ahead.

V ' he former Wolverine All-
Ai running back arises each
ng at the' Milan Federal Correc-

•.nui Institution, his main concerns

e preparing for the future and serv-
ing God.

"Life is just too short to look back.
You learn by the past but you have to
be thinking of the future ... to where

"I've come a long way and I still
have a way to go. I now have the wis-
dom I never had . . . I've got peace of
mind today."

Taylor began his sentenc .ly,
1975, at the Federal Institution in Ox-
ford, Wis. He reouested and received
a transfer to ' where he has
been since late » ^..'i.iiry.

The 27-year-old Taylor, who re-
ceived his degree in education from
Michigan in 1972, teaches geometry
. ' ' -bra to inmates working to-'
i A school diplomas.

you're going," said Taylor during an L/ Although his "release date" is set
interview at the Milan facility, where ^ for Sept., 1977, Taylor has the type of
he's currently serving an eight-year ^ sentence in which he can be paroled
sentence for bank robbery, at any time. He plans to ask the pa-
Billy Taylor talks freely abou'i role board to review his case next
past, choosing each word carefully in month and hopes to get a good recom-
a soft voice. But when he discusses mendation from Milan officials.
the future, his eyes light up, his voice Thus, Billy could be released th'-
rises, and he seems confident. , fall or winter and he's one inrniii
The "nightmare" in his life oc- who definitely
curred in January, 1975, when life and ing.
its mounting problems and sorrows "I worked at Hurley Medical Center
were too much for the likeable Taylor. in Flint for a few months prior to my

Confused and emotionally upset, sentence and when I get out, I'll apply

Ta ' ' ^ returned to his hometown, for t'-;^ r -.^ion of affirmative action

*&*' - - - Ohio. and as Billy recalls, d . .ylor^ays. ^.-.

"just got involved with the wrong peo- As part ol Milan's study-release

Pie." program. Billy will begin work on a

Taylor allowed himself to be talked master's degree in hospital adminis
into attempting a bank robbery by a tration at Michigan next month.
"friend" who was not a stranger to \ s: ;•::;' day for Michigan's all-
problems with the law. U;ue leading ground-gainer starts ear-
Billy, unarmed, waited outside the ly and is extremely busy.
bank in a car while his partner on "I get up around 6:15 a.m., eat
tered the bank. Within minutes it ; breakfast at quarter-torseven and then
all over — the holdup foiled and Tay- report to work around 7:30," says
lor and his companion in custody. Taylor. "I go over my lesson plans,

The nightmare had begun, and the teach two classes in the morning,

next two weeks were hell for the shak- break for lunch and come back for

en, former football star. two more in the afternoon.

"I knew I couldn't help myself. I "At 4 (p.m.) everybody goes back

ust couldn't cope with it emotionally to his unit, mainly for a head count, ^

and I had no place to turn," Taylor then it's mail call and then supper at

says. 5.

"I started to pray to God. I asked "After that we're free to go out in

him to give the strength and guid- the yard or just relax."

Taylor, who edits the inmates'

"uver the next two weeks, through; Christian Newsletter, also writes poe-

my personal encounter with God, I ex- try and is working on a possible book,

perienced i "h-^nge. I always had dealing W^ hi" "•^•1 experiences.

gone to d efore, but I didn't -It'll c- 'e at Michigan

really understand what religion and and tl icnes.', nut the most sig-

laith were all about, mfica; , will be about my con-

"But after the incident, I gained version," he notes. "I've got about

. wisdom. I thnik I've been intelligent Continued on Page 2

Billy Taylor's
On Way Back

Continued I rom Page I
ive chapters completed."
Although Taylor's main concern is
ith the future, he doesn't hesitate to
take observations about his problems
of (lie past.

Billy's world began to crumble
shortly after the 1972 Rose Bowl when
pis mother, to whom he was extn'ine-
\\ close, died. Taylor. whose father
ilied \vhen Billy was five, suddenly
\v'as alone.

"There were a few people that were
them," he recalls. "I'd always missed
not having a father and when my
mother passed away, I had to make
.ill decisions myself."

Billy, who led the Big Ten in m-!i-
the tilth round of the National Fool-
ball League draft and reported lo
camp in July.

But Taylor had a run-in with Falcon
Coach Norm Van Brocklin. Taylor
made some statements about certain
racist conditions with the Falcons and
tor that he feels he was blacklisted.

After being traded to St. Louis and
getting little playing time during
pre-season games, he was released
the former Wolverine notes, "too late
for any team to pick me up."

Taylor went to Canada and finished
(he season with Calgary of the Canadi-
an Football League. He signed a con-
tract with the Stampeders for 1973 but
later didn't want to return because of
mounting personal problr

"In a 13-month peri<; m,
mom, then an aunt and uncle and
then a close friend was stabbed lo
death. I was really down," Taylor ex-
plains. "I just wasn't ready to play
emotionally."

Taylor eventually was released by
Calgary, returned to Ann Arbor and
soon joined General Motors in the
management training program.

When the World Football League
was formed in 1974, Billy left for (he
Memphis Southmen. Injuries h,
pered his play at Memphis and unce
recovered, he found himself on the
bench. He was then traded to the-Chi-
cago Fire but before he had a chance
to get settled, the Fire folded.
Taylor spent the remainder of the
74 season as a non-roster player with
Philadelphia of the NFL.

After the season. Billy went back to
Barberton, where all his problems of
the past caught up to him.

Despite the difficult adjustment to
prison life. Taylor never lost faith
during the first few weeks of incarcer-
ation.

"I've seen it from both sides. I've
had dinner with the President and
have been on welfare. I've been to ex-
otic countries and in the inner city."
he says. "To me. there's no problem
that cannot be solved if you have a^
strong belief in God."

A"' -n the reasons for Billy's re-
< .Milan were the opportunities to teach,
the study release program, and so he
could be closer to relatives and
friends.

iUiiiv. who's allowed four visits per
niuiilh, has seen a number of friends,
former teammates and coaches, in-
cluding Michigan Coach Bo Schem-
bechler.

"Bo was here right before he wem

^UG • ^ m

in for his operation. He also came up
to see me at Oxford," Taylor says.
"We've always been close and this in-
cident has made us even closer.

"In fact. Bo was the first person
that called after I was arrested."

Billy has found his friends to he ;ni
important asset.

"When people heard lliai 1 vva^ in \
trouble, they knew that I wasn i like |
that . . . that that wasn't the person '
they had known," says Taylor. |
"Psychologically, they've given me a I
big lift . . . Just to know that they're \
behind me." [

Taylor has experienced a great deal |
during his prison stay, but his only ,
complaint i'' ni>f about prison lid t»m
about tin'

"It shouni in-tii on 'd m.yi\ ,^i signal .
level in determining when a guy '
leaves an institution," he states. "To-
tiij power lies with the parole board;

The decision on when a guy gets re-
leased should be made by the people
who sec a prisoner close up."

One thing Billy has learned about
the rehabilitation of any prisoner is
that it has to start from within.

"An institution can offer a lut ol
programs, but if a guy doesn't want to /
change, then he's not guiny to
change," he says. "11 starts with
yourself and your progress depends
on yourself."

When Billy Taylor finally walks oui
of Milan a free man and begins his
career in society, there's one role he's
very concerned about — the role of,;a^

Billy has an eight-year-old son's
Louis, wh." ! -ith his mother and
step-father \\. •• !;... •).

"I know what it was like to be with-
out a father and I want to give him all
the love I can," beams the proud la- '
ther. "I want to help him and guide
him in the right direction.

"I'd even lii'" '•• '-.'e him ^i? ttSt
MKingapt" smiir^ jur. ~K.

"I want to introdu ii dod yiui
leach him how reli^ii L^ii help him.
I want him to learn that any problem
can be solved with the help of God.

"As I said before, I no\\ have peace
of mind, and I want my son to ha\ c it,
too."