Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor went on something called the “Surf & Turf” podcast last week to talk about his time with the Steelers. And during that broadcast he recalled a story from his playing career that really has me scratching my head.
According to Taylor, he had his helmet retrofitted with headphones. Those headphones were connected to an iPod he kept hidden in his jersey, and all of this allowed him to listen to music while he played. Let me say this again: Taylor had headphones in and was listening to music during plays. Based on the comments on this Instagram post from former Steelers Arthur Moats, Rob Golden and Antwon Blake, this is real. It is also very much against the rules.
One of the hosts asked Taylor about hearing the defensive play calls, but Taylor said it was all done with signals. Taylor started 140 games during his 12 seasons in Pittsburgh. He indicated in the interview he wore headphones his final three seasons. Might explain why Taylor played 33 games in those final three seasons but only had one interception.
