Adam J. Taliaferro (born January 1, 1982) is an American politician in the state of New Jersey and a former American football player whose recovery from a paralyzing spinal cord injury sustained while playing cornerback for the Penn State Nittany Lions gained national media attention.
Growing up in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, he was a standout running back and cornerback for the Eastern High School Vikings. In two years of varsity football at Eastern High School, he averaged 9.4 yards per carry, racking up 62 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Taliaferro was also a four-year varsity starter in basketball, and set his school's record in the high jump at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).
Taliaferro currently serves in the New Jersey General Assembly from the Third Legislative District which covers portions of South Jersey. A Democrat, he was appointed to the seat in January 2015 after having served on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders for three years. Taliaferro was elected to his first full two-year term in the Assembly in November 2015.
Video Adam Taliaferro
Penn State career
In 2000, Taliaferro joined the Penn State Nittany Lions football team as one of the top-rated freshmen of their 2000 recruiting class. Taliaferro earned playing time as a true freshman for Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions, despite Paterno's well-documented tendency to redshirt freshman players.
On September 23, 2000, while playing in only the fifth game of his college career, Taliaferro sustained a career-ending spinal cord injury while tackling tailback Jerry Westbrooks during Penn State's game versus Ohio State. Taliaferro's helmet had hit Westbrooks' knee during the tackle, bursting the fifth cervical vertebra in his neck and bruising his spinal cord. Unable to control his fall, the crown of his helmet hit the turf and his body rolled awkwardly over his neck. Taliaferro was paralyzed on the hit, which left him with no movement from the neck down.
Recovery
Taliaferro had surgery at the Ohio State Medical Center to fuse his C-5 vertebrate. After successful surgery, Taliaferro was airlifted back to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to begin his recovery. Although surgery was successful, Taliaferro was only given a 3% chance of ever walking again.
He began his well-publicized rehab at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After eight months of rehab, Taliaferro had learned to walk again.
Return to Penn State
Taliaferro returned to Penn State less than a year after his injury. He led the Penn State Nittany Lions football team onto Beaver Stadium's field for the first game of the 2001 season against the Miami Hurricanes in front of a record crowd of 109,313. Taliaferro skipped, then jogged onto the field in front of an emotional Penn State crowd.
He remained part of the football team as a student-assistant coach under Joe Paterno. Taliaferro earned a Bachelor of Science in Labor and Industrial Relations from Penn State in 2005.
Miracle in the Making & The Adam Taliaferro Foundation
In 2001, a book was written by Sam Carchidi and Scott Brown to chronicle Taliaferro's life and recovery, entitled Miracle in the Making.
Taliaferro created his own foundation to help support others with spinal cord injuries. The foundation was created in 2001, and continues to grow each year. The foundation has been said to raise over $80,000 per year for spinal cord injuries.
In 2008, he was named the recipient of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association "Humanitarian Award". In the spring of 2012, he was elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees. Following his appointment to the New Jersey General Assembly, he announced he would not seek a second term on the Board.
Maps Adam Taliaferro
Political career
On November 8, 2011, he was elected to serve on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. A resident of Woolwich Township, he assumed office on January 6, 2012. He subsequently won reelection to the Freeholder board in 2014 and served until his appointment to the General Assembly.
Following the resignation of Assemblywoman Celeste Riley in 2015 from the General Assembly, Taliaferro was chosen by the county Democratic committees represented by the 3rd district to fill the vacant seat. He was sworn in on January 29, 2015.
Personal life
Taliaferro enrolled at Rutgers School of Law-Camden in Camden, New Jersey. He earned his J.D. in May 2008 and worked as a lawyer at Duane Morris in the firm's Cherry Hill office for five years. In September 2012, he joined pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb as a healthcare advocate, focusing on mental health, oncology, and HIV products. Taliaferro also runs his own foundation which helps student athletes with head or spinal injuries and is a motivational speaker, doing corporate appearances and speaking at schools.
References
External links
- Adam Taliaferro Foundation website
- "I truly feel blessed", The Daily Collegian, October 21, 2006
- "Catching Up With Adam Taliaferro", Audio interview, August 19, 2005
- "After neck injury, Taliaferro still dreams about the NFL", Associated Press, May 13, 2005
- "Taking Purposeful Strides", The New York Times, February 20, 2001
- "Former Penn State player Adam Taliaferro makes great strides from spinal injury", Josh Lederman, USAToday, Jul 20, 2010.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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