Fred Taylor almost went sky diving without a parachute

Posted on Tue May 15, 2007 at 10:15:23 AM EST in NFL
More on: Fred Taylor, Samari Rolle, Lito Sheppard, plane, Jaguars, NFL (all tags)

Wonder if these guys were piloting
at the time?

Do you hate flying as much as we do? After experiencing some seriously disturbing in-air disturbances while visiting Africa, we're guessing that Jaguars running back Fred Taylor does.

Taylor had been touring Zambia and Zimbabwe and all those other Z-countries in South Africa with his wife and his buddies Samari Rolle, Lito Sheppard and their lil' ladies. Everything had been going swimmingly for group of tourists until the dreaded "Samari safari." On the way back from checking out the wildlife, the 15-seat, single-propeller plane's door flew open at about 6,000 feet and caused a panic amongst the normally cool pro ballers.

I thought that was it," Taylor said Monday following the final day of Jacksonville's three-day minicamp. "I put my head down and started praying. The runway was about two miles away, but it seemed like it took 10 or 15 minutes to get there."

Taylor joked that it was the first time he felt like he was near death "since I was playing for (coach Tom) Coughlin.

Maybe Taylor should spring for a little safer accommodation on his next journey to a third world country. After all, it's not like the guy can't travel in style; the Jaguars just gave him a three-year extension worth $23 million. But things could have been much worse; what if there had been a bunch of killer snakes on the plane?

Links:
[CBS Sportsline]: Jaguars' Taylor Gets Scare In Africa
[Gainesville.com]: Ex-Gators get scare during Africa trip

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