William Lewis Taylor (born January 7, 1949) is a former professional American and Canadian football running back who played for Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) after starring for the University of Michigan Wolverines.

At Michigan, he became an All-American and broke the school record for career rushing yardage and finished second to Tom Harmon in scoring.

[1][2] Taylor broke the Michigan career rushing record with 3,072 yards in three seasons.

[1] In the last two minutes of the 1971 Michigan-Ohio State game, Michigan was trailing, 7-3, when Bo Schembechler called Taylor's number.

[4] During Taylor's years they had excellent offensive linemen such as Dan Dierdorf, Reggie McKenzie, and Jim Mandich.

Taylor was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 1971 Michigan football team that went undefeated in the regular season (but lost 13-12 to Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl game).

[7] At that time, Ron Johnson was the only Michigan player who had rushed for more yards in a game.

Late that same summer, his girlfriend, Valerie, was stabbed to death outside a roller rink in Detroit.

Taylor wrote in his autobiography that football injuries and deaths of close family members sent him on "a long downward spiral of depression, drinking, drugs and encounters with the law."

Taylor hit a low when he was convicted for having knowledge of a bank robbery and spent 2½ years in a federal penitentiary; after his release, he became an addict living on the streets of Detroit, cut off from friends and family.

"[4] He stopped drinking and taking drugs that day and published a book about his experience called "Get Back Up: The Billy Taylor Story."