He is 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,[1] he was a standout running back and cornerback for the Eastern Regional High School Vikings.
Taliaferro's helmet had hit Westbrooks' knee during the tackle, bursting the fifth cervical vertebra in his neck and bruising his spinal cord.
After successful surgery, Taliaferro was airlifted back to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to begin his recovery.
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.
[5] Following the resignation of Assemblywoman Celeste Riley in 2015, Taliaferro was chosen by the local Democratic committees of the 3rd district to fill the vacant seat.
In 2021, Taliaferro and his running mates, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assemblyman John Burzichelli, were defeated by their Republican opponents.
[2][12] In September 2012, he joined pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb as a healthcare advocate, focusing on mental health, oncology, and HIV products.
[13] Taliaferro also runs his own foundation which helps student athletes with head or spinal injuries[2] and is a motivational speaker, doing corporate appearances and speaking at schools.