{"id":48637,"date":"2025-05-14T05:31:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T05:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/48637\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T05:31:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T05:31:20","slug":"ny-jets-mason-taylor-forces-dolphins-legend-to-embrace-hilarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/48637\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Jets’ Mason Taylor forces Dolphins legend to embrace hilarity"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the New York Jets drafted Mason Taylor<\/a> 42nd overall in the 2025 NFL draft<\/a>, they knew the history; they understood the pedigree.<\/p>\n

They even understood the awkwardness of the situation. <\/p>\n

Taylor, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame edge rusher Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins (and Jets for one season, 2010 with Rex Ryan<\/a>), and nephew of Phins\u2019 legend Zach Thomas, was taken by a team his parents grew up hating during their careers.<\/p>\n

Now that Taylor is a member of the Jets, things are about to get far more hilarious in the family household.<\/p>\n

Zach Thomas talks Jets drafting nephew<\/p>\n

Speaking on the \u201cDolphins Talk\u201d podcast<\/a>, the Hall of Fame linebacker shared how incredible it was to watch his nephew get drafted\u2014even if the Jets selected him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a special moment that night,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cFather Ed, the priest who was giving the pre-draft prayer, said \u2018we\u2019re there to support you even if you go to the Jets.\u2019 It was a special moment because I knew this kid was obsessed with football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas is related to Mason through his mother\u2019s side. Katina (Thomas\u2019 sister) and Jason were married for 14 years and had an up-and-down relationship throughout their lives. <\/p>\n

Through it all, though, Thomas has watched Mason grow into a strong football player.<\/p>\n

In fact, Mason\u2019s draft status edges his family members: his uncle Zach (drafted in the fifth round) and father Jason (drafted in the third round). Despite the proud moments as an uncle, Thomas made sure to have a good laugh about the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the rival Jets and I cried when he had the moment, and then I cried when I knew the Jets were going to get better,\u201d Thomas joked.<\/p>\n

Times have changed for the family. Taylor enters a Jets roster in need of a tight end of his caliber. The LSU product set program records for the position in receptions, yards, and touchdowns.<\/p>\n

At just 21 years old, he\u2019s expected to be one of the young players New York looks to build around. And that leaves Thomas and Taylor both rooting for the Jets more so than they ever have before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s family, and I\u2019ve seen what this kid puts in,\u201d Thomas concluded. \u201cHe\u2019s a heck of a player and is young. \u2026 I always wanted the Jets to go 0-17, but now I have to tell Dolphin fans I can\u2019t cheer against my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately for the family, though, Taylor won\u2019t forget anything his father or uncle taught him.<\/p>\n

Taylor talks living in legends\u2019 shoes<\/p>\n

Many current NFL athletes are children of Hall of Fame players. Few have the kind of NFL bloodlines like Taylor\u2019s, where even his uncle was an all-time great.<\/p>\n

Instead of running away from that kind of pressure, though, Taylor is leaning into it. He feels that it will only strengthen him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are high expectations, for sure, just because of the last name,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut when people say, \u2018Oh, let him have his shine, stop saying his dad\u2019s name\u2019 \u2014 I mean, I love it. We\u2019re family, him (Jason) and my uncle Zach.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an awkward time for the Taylor family. Yet, as young Mason Taylor begins his NFL journey with his new team, it feels certain that the New York Jets have two new fans aboard the bandwagon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the New York Jets drafted Mason Taylor 42nd overall in the 2025 NFL draft, they knew the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[7,226,280,1917,255,2321,2097,6,4098],"class_list":{"0":"post-48637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-mason-taylor","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-ny-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114504550766135704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}