Before Logan Taylor’s 10th birthday, he was already over six feet tall, dwarfing his opponents on the soccer field.
“I would always get fouls and penalties and everything for kind of being too rough out there, so yeah, I definitely stood out when it came to size,” said the now 24-year-old Nova Scotian who grew up in Lunenburg.
Taylor said one day a coach of a local football team had a conversation with his dad.
“He was like, ‘Hey, you got to get your son out here,'” said Taylor. “And from the day I stepped onto the football field, I loved the team aspect and I just loved the contact, so it was just a great fit for me and [I’m] just very thankful that I got that opportunity.”
Fast-forward to today and the six-foot-seven-inch, 312-pound offensive lineman is living in Los Angeles going through his first training camp with the NFL’s Chargers, months after being selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. He’s the highest-selected born and raised Nova Scotian taken in the NFL Draft.
It’s the culmination of a lifelong dream that meant moving away at 14 from his home in the tiny seaside South Shore community. This has included stops in Timberlea, N.S., Virginia and Massachusetts to chase his dream.
While Nova Scotia has produced hockey stars such as Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, the list of born-and-raised Bluenosers who have played in a regular-season game in the NFL is a short one: Tyrone Williams and Steve Morley.
Because the high school in Bridgewater, N.S., he was supposed to attend did not have a football program, Taylor moved to Timberlea for his grades 10 and 11 years to attend what was then known as Sir John A. Macdonald High School.
Kathy and Brian Mason were his billet parents. Brian Mason said when Taylor arrived to live with them, he would’ve been about six feet six inches and 280 pounds, so he physically stood out. He recalls hearing some people dismiss Taylor’s goal of reaching the NFL.
“And we told him, like, ‘Don’t listen to them. It’s within you to make it and you have to put in the work to get there,'” said Brian Mason.
The Masons describe Taylor as a gentle giant, caring, humble and respectful.
Kathy Mason said that Taylor was open to having conversations and seeing a different point of view.
“There were some challenges, but nothing that we hadn’t seen before with our own [two] boys,” she said.
Taylor said that moving away at 14, “I had to grow up really fast.” He said the Masons are two of his four parents.
For his Grade 12 year, Taylor attended a boarding school in Virginia. For his first two years of post-secondary studies, he attended the University of Virginia. His final three were at Boston College.
For the NFL Draft in April, Taylor was at home in Lunenburg. The Masons were also there, although they hadn’t arrived when he got the phone call from the Chargers.
“It was just an amazing feeling,” said Taylor. “To be able to be there with my parents and my wife and her family was just an amazing experience.”
Taylor spoke with CBC News by video recently from the Chargers’ practice facility days ahead of the team’s second pre-season exhibition game.
Life in L.A.
He said on a typical day he’s up before 6 a.m. PT. There are team meetings starting at 7 a.m. and they usually run two hours. There’s a practice from 10 a.m. to noon, a lunch break and then more team meetings in the afternoon. In the evening, there’s a non-contact practice known as a walk-through.
“You’re going against the best of the best in practice and then when you get to the game, it’s a whole other level,” said Taylor.
He said he’s enjoying his time living in Los Angeles, singling out the lack of rain and abundance of beaches and restaurants as highlights, but as a “country guy,” he hasn’t been able to do his usual pursuits: four-wheeling, hunting and fishing.
“But hey, I’m here for my job,” said Taylor.
The Chargers selected four offensive linemen in the draft, meaning Taylor has his work cut out for him to land on the 53-man active roster.
Brian Mason said he told Taylor that being drafted just means the door opened for him.
“Now you can step in, but this is where the work begins. You have to show them that you belong and you have to put in the hard work to stay there and prove yourself,” said Mason.
“And he goes, ‘I know.’ I said, ‘So let’s do it, let’s just show them how tough a kid from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, really is.'”
Taylor, who has helped with summer football camps back home, said he wants to be a resource for young Nova Scotians looking to play professional football.
Asked what advice he has for them, his answer applies equally to his current situation.
“The days that you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t really want to,’ those are the days someone else is [going to put in the hard work],” said Taylor.
“So just have that mindset of, yeah, if you’re not going to do it, well, someone else will. And someone’s always coming for your job, so just attack every single day.”
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