Reporting from Florham Park, NJ—Jason Taylor is most well-known as a Pro Football Hall of Fame player with the Miami Dolphins, even if he did spend a sole year with the New York Jets in the Rex Ryan era.
It’s about to get extremely strange for Miami Dolphins fans.
Taylor’s son, Mason, a top tight end for the LSU Tigers over the last three years, was taken by the Jets with the 42nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. And both son and father are thrilled to return to the Big Apple for this special family moment.
Taylor family thankful for Jets’ draft decision
Jason spent only a single season with the Jets, but when speaking to New York reporters after watching his son get drafted, he was proud of his short time there.
From a team perspective, he quickly noted that his best season came with the New York team that reached the conference title game in 2010.
Despite playing in Miami for 13 seasons, the Hall-of-Fame pass rusher clarified that his allegiance has changed solely based on his son’s current location. At the start of his career, that was with the Jets.
“The sun has set on my career, and I’m done, so it’s awesome to be able to sit back and watch him,” Taylor said. “To watch him walk through the same facility and use the locker room and take that same path that I took — you’re trying to make me cry. I’m not going to do it.”
The Taylors spent just a single season in New York, but both father and son have fond memories of their time here. Mason was just six years old then, but can still remember what life was like … especially living in Manhattan.
“We lived there for a year, really just me, my brother, and my sister running around, and my mom at Central Park tackling each other. We went to the park maybe every single day to keep us entertained as kids,” Mason said. “Running around there and running around New York I mean it was fun, it was a blast, so I mean it’s definitely crazy and eye-opening knowing that I’ll be there now older. It’s just an amazing experience, and I’m just so excited for this.”
Taylor walks into a Jets team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since his father’s team bowed out to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. It’s been almost a decade since the team even finished over .500.
Both father and son believe Mason can help turn around the Jets, even if the family will need to root for New York in future matchups with the Dolphins.
“My dad’s a big supporter, so I mean I hate to say it but I think he’ll love the Jets not a lot more than the Dolphins now, but I feel like he’s a really supportive dad and we come from a really supportive family, so I mean he’s going to have Jets merch all in his closet I’m sure of it, so it’s going to be really exciting,” Mason explained.
The Taylor family has been blessed to see their father excel at the NFL level. Now, their latest blessing comes from the father watching his son enter the same league as a high draft pick and intended starter.
And for Jason, that’s all that matters now.
“As a father, it’s unbelievable,” Jason said. “The feeling is better than when I was a player.”
