indianahusker
Special Teams Player
Nice story by the OWH...
[SIZE=21pt]Husker QB Taylor's sister gives him a lift[/SIZE]
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
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LINCOLN - Surrounded by Oklahoma football players, Kathryn Taylor had some of the biggest and baddest Sooners eating out of her hand.
Kathryn and Zac
As her mother came back to get her, Kathryn was just revealing insider information about the new quarterback at rival Nebraska. Meet the Sooners Day last week certainly was getting interesting.
"All these players, they're sitting on that wall around the stadium, and she's holding court," Julie Taylor said. "I hurry over there and those guys are saying, 'Hey, for real, is her brother really the quarterback at Nebraska?' I said, 'Yeah, he really is.' They were cracking up."
Kathryn Taylor likes to talk about her older brother, Zac. They're just 20 months apart. Little separated them growing up, especially in the time before Julie and Sherwood Taylor's third and fourth children came along.
But their lives, from the start, were shaped to be different.
Zac was born, by pedigree, to play college football. Kathryn was born, by pure chance, with Down syndrome.
It would seem a bittersweet story until you meet the Taylors.
The family gives no indication that Kathryn, 20, is any different than her siblings - Zac, 22, along with younger brother Press, 17, and younger sister Quincy, 13. Nobody in the family would complain that her condition is a burden.
She follows the others everywhere, and usually she's the center of attention when she gets there. Kathryn competing in the state Special Olympics in Oklahoma is nearly tantamount to Zac playing football at Nebraska.
"We don't treat her like she has a disability of any sort," Zac Taylor said. "She doesn't even think she has a disability. We just treat her like anyone else. She's just so fun to be around.
"For me, I just can't remember life without her. We've always been around each other. The first 18 years of our lives, I can't remember many days not seeing her."
Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that occurs at conception. Kathryn Taylor has the most common form, trisomy 21, which accounts for about 95 percent of all cases.
Despite the genetic anomaly, Kathryn is considered high functioning. She recently graduated from high school, and Julie and Sherwood have thought about her getting a job. She reads, writes and gets on the computer to e-mail her brother. She can stay home alone for short periods if an errand needs to be run.
"We've been so absolutely blessed, and Kathryn is a huge part of that," Julie Taylor said. "It would be fabulous if she didn't have Down's. But it really puts a whole new spin on everything and makes it that much sweeter."
The Taylor family, she said, is stronger for having her around.
"People were going to take their cue from us," Julie Taylor said. "If we treat her like any other kid, that's the way they would be with her.
"As far as Zac, he never knew anything different. It was never a big deal to him at all. You always try to look for the best, but I think my other kids are such better people because of Kathryn - much more understanding, open-minded, caring, more aware of people around them."
Zac and Kathryn were born in Manhattan, Kan., when Sherwood was an assistant football coach at Kansas State. The family then moved to Norman, Okla., where Sherwood was a starting defensive back for OU in the 1970s.
Zac and Kathryn were closest at that time. As Press and Quincy came along, Kathryn tended to gravitate toward the younger kids.
That didn't make it any easier when Zac Taylor left home for Wake Forest in 2002, something Kathryn had trouble understanding at first. When he would call, she inevitably would ask when he was coming home.
"It was tough to hear her say that," Zac Taylor said.
When Taylor transferred and played at Butler County (Kan.) Community College last season, the family was able to make just about every game. The Taylors traveled to Lincoln for the Nebraska spring game in April, and Julie said Kathryn is looking forward to the Sept. 3 NU-Maine game.
"It's great when she gets to be there, just being around the family and getting to see her brothers play football," Zac Taylor said. "Occasionally she doesn't want to go, but she always has a good time. She doesn't really watch the game so much as just kind of hang out with the crowd and talk to people."
After games, win or lose, she's always excited to see Zac or Press, the projected starting quarterback at Norman High this season.
"She doesn't know if you've had a bad game or how it affects you if you did," Zac Taylor said. "She'll be the first to come up and give you a big hug and scream your name. It's impossible not to smile."
It's not uncommon for Kathryn to lose interest at some events, wander off and end up sitting with the band or the cheerleaders. One of the family's favorite stories is when they lost track of her at one of Zac's basketball games in the eighth grade.
During a timeout with three seconds left - and Zac needing to make two free throws to win the game - he turned around to find her in the team huddle.
"She had gone out of the stands, came down and was patting him on the back to reassure him it would be OK," Sherwood Taylor said. "I'll never forget, he puts his hands out and gives us that look, like, 'Can you do something about this?' "
Said Julie Taylor: "Good thing he made those free throws. We would have never heard the end of it. SHE would have never heard the end of it."
That's just Kathryn, Zac said. And because she's always there for them, the family has always returned the favor.
They've watched Kathryn swim, run track and perform gymnastics. Sherwood Taylor is on the Oklahoma board for Special Olympics. Zac and Press volunteer to referee Special Olympics games.
Despite school and football and everything else on his plate, Zac Taylor never misses Kathryn in the state Special Olympics every spring, where she's annually an award-winning swimmer.
"She loves that because she's the belle of the ball," Julie Taylor said. "She's logged so many miles for them for football, basketball or soccer, so this is her day.
"We always split up, and half of the family goes to one end to start her off and the other half goes to the other end for the finish. Somebody should film us because we just must look like idiots, yelling our heads off."
Julie Taylor said Kathryn is such a good swimmer that she could probably beat her brothers and sister.
"And if she didn't beat us, she'd be mad as heck," Zac Taylor said. "She's real competitive. I'm sure she gets that from her brothers."
Before long, Julie Taylor said, Kathryn will get to know many of Zac's new Husker teammates. When Zac was at Butler County, she couldn't get enough of Justin Tomerlin, the defensive end who followed Zac to NU.
If the games get too nerve-wracking this fall, Kathryn surely will settle everybody down.
"When we're on offense, I'm always pretty tense," Julie Taylor said. "You just can't stay in that frame of mind when she's saying something hilarious.
"She's excited to come to that first game. If she goes and has a great time, she'll want to come again. If it doesn't do it for her, she'll say, 'No, I want to stay home.' If people are paying attention to her a lot, she'll enjoy it."
Kind of like down at Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium in Oklahoma on Aug. 5. OU officials had opened an hour time slot for Special Olympians to meet with the Sooners before the public got in, and Kathryn Taylor wasn't wasting a minute of it.
She was telling the OU players about Zac but probably a little confused as to why they were even so interested.
"To her, he's just her brother," Sherwood Taylor said. "She likes to see his picture in the paper and maybe read about him, but it's not like she gushes over him or anything."
[SIZE=21pt]Husker QB Taylor's sister gives him a lift[/SIZE]
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
RELATED STORIES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
»
Husker nation is ready for NU rebound
»
Taylor is armed and dangerous
»
Taylor is grinning and bearing it
»
Huskers get down to business
RELATED LINK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
»
W-H Online Edition's Big Red Page
LINCOLN - Surrounded by Oklahoma football players, Kathryn Taylor had some of the biggest and baddest Sooners eating out of her hand.
Kathryn and Zac
As her mother came back to get her, Kathryn was just revealing insider information about the new quarterback at rival Nebraska. Meet the Sooners Day last week certainly was getting interesting.
"All these players, they're sitting on that wall around the stadium, and she's holding court," Julie Taylor said. "I hurry over there and those guys are saying, 'Hey, for real, is her brother really the quarterback at Nebraska?' I said, 'Yeah, he really is.' They were cracking up."
Kathryn Taylor likes to talk about her older brother, Zac. They're just 20 months apart. Little separated them growing up, especially in the time before Julie and Sherwood Taylor's third and fourth children came along.
But their lives, from the start, were shaped to be different.
Zac was born, by pedigree, to play college football. Kathryn was born, by pure chance, with Down syndrome.
It would seem a bittersweet story until you meet the Taylors.
The family gives no indication that Kathryn, 20, is any different than her siblings - Zac, 22, along with younger brother Press, 17, and younger sister Quincy, 13. Nobody in the family would complain that her condition is a burden.
She follows the others everywhere, and usually she's the center of attention when she gets there. Kathryn competing in the state Special Olympics in Oklahoma is nearly tantamount to Zac playing football at Nebraska.
"We don't treat her like she has a disability of any sort," Zac Taylor said. "She doesn't even think she has a disability. We just treat her like anyone else. She's just so fun to be around.
"For me, I just can't remember life without her. We've always been around each other. The first 18 years of our lives, I can't remember many days not seeing her."
Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that occurs at conception. Kathryn Taylor has the most common form, trisomy 21, which accounts for about 95 percent of all cases.
Despite the genetic anomaly, Kathryn is considered high functioning. She recently graduated from high school, and Julie and Sherwood have thought about her getting a job. She reads, writes and gets on the computer to e-mail her brother. She can stay home alone for short periods if an errand needs to be run.
"We've been so absolutely blessed, and Kathryn is a huge part of that," Julie Taylor said. "It would be fabulous if she didn't have Down's. But it really puts a whole new spin on everything and makes it that much sweeter."
The Taylor family, she said, is stronger for having her around.
"People were going to take their cue from us," Julie Taylor said. "If we treat her like any other kid, that's the way they would be with her.
"As far as Zac, he never knew anything different. It was never a big deal to him at all. You always try to look for the best, but I think my other kids are such better people because of Kathryn - much more understanding, open-minded, caring, more aware of people around them."
Zac and Kathryn were born in Manhattan, Kan., when Sherwood was an assistant football coach at Kansas State. The family then moved to Norman, Okla., where Sherwood was a starting defensive back for OU in the 1970s.
Zac and Kathryn were closest at that time. As Press and Quincy came along, Kathryn tended to gravitate toward the younger kids.
That didn't make it any easier when Zac Taylor left home for Wake Forest in 2002, something Kathryn had trouble understanding at first. When he would call, she inevitably would ask when he was coming home.
"It was tough to hear her say that," Zac Taylor said.
When Taylor transferred and played at Butler County (Kan.) Community College last season, the family was able to make just about every game. The Taylors traveled to Lincoln for the Nebraska spring game in April, and Julie said Kathryn is looking forward to the Sept. 3 NU-Maine game.
"It's great when she gets to be there, just being around the family and getting to see her brothers play football," Zac Taylor said. "Occasionally she doesn't want to go, but she always has a good time. She doesn't really watch the game so much as just kind of hang out with the crowd and talk to people."
After games, win or lose, she's always excited to see Zac or Press, the projected starting quarterback at Norman High this season.
"She doesn't know if you've had a bad game or how it affects you if you did," Zac Taylor said. "She'll be the first to come up and give you a big hug and scream your name. It's impossible not to smile."
It's not uncommon for Kathryn to lose interest at some events, wander off and end up sitting with the band or the cheerleaders. One of the family's favorite stories is when they lost track of her at one of Zac's basketball games in the eighth grade.
During a timeout with three seconds left - and Zac needing to make two free throws to win the game - he turned around to find her in the team huddle.
"She had gone out of the stands, came down and was patting him on the back to reassure him it would be OK," Sherwood Taylor said. "I'll never forget, he puts his hands out and gives us that look, like, 'Can you do something about this?' "
Said Julie Taylor: "Good thing he made those free throws. We would have never heard the end of it. SHE would have never heard the end of it."
That's just Kathryn, Zac said. And because she's always there for them, the family has always returned the favor.
They've watched Kathryn swim, run track and perform gymnastics. Sherwood Taylor is on the Oklahoma board for Special Olympics. Zac and Press volunteer to referee Special Olympics games.
Despite school and football and everything else on his plate, Zac Taylor never misses Kathryn in the state Special Olympics every spring, where she's annually an award-winning swimmer.
"She loves that because she's the belle of the ball," Julie Taylor said. "She's logged so many miles for them for football, basketball or soccer, so this is her day.
"We always split up, and half of the family goes to one end to start her off and the other half goes to the other end for the finish. Somebody should film us because we just must look like idiots, yelling our heads off."
Julie Taylor said Kathryn is such a good swimmer that she could probably beat her brothers and sister.
"And if she didn't beat us, she'd be mad as heck," Zac Taylor said. "She's real competitive. I'm sure she gets that from her brothers."
Before long, Julie Taylor said, Kathryn will get to know many of Zac's new Husker teammates. When Zac was at Butler County, she couldn't get enough of Justin Tomerlin, the defensive end who followed Zac to NU.
If the games get too nerve-wracking this fall, Kathryn surely will settle everybody down.
"When we're on offense, I'm always pretty tense," Julie Taylor said. "You just can't stay in that frame of mind when she's saying something hilarious.
"She's excited to come to that first game. If she goes and has a great time, she'll want to come again. If it doesn't do it for her, she'll say, 'No, I want to stay home.' If people are paying attention to her a lot, she'll enjoy it."
Kind of like down at Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium in Oklahoma on Aug. 5. OU officials had opened an hour time slot for Special Olympians to meet with the Sooners before the public got in, and Kathryn Taylor wasn't wasting a minute of it.
She was telling the OU players about Zac but probably a little confused as to why they were even so interested.
"To her, he's just her brother," Sherwood Taylor said. "She likes to see his picture in the paper and maybe read about him, but it's not like she gushes over him or anything."
