Texas Longhorns DB Michael Taaffe Earns Another Weekly Award

After recieving his first-career weekly honor, Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe added another one to his resume.

Oct 26, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores running back Sedrick Alexander (28) tackles Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe (16) after the interception during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe has earned the honor of the Burlsworth Trophy Walk-On of the Week, which honors the best player in college football who started his career as a walk-on. On top of that, Taaffe was named the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Vanderbilt.

In Texas's 27-24 win over the Commodores, Taaffe had six tackles, three of them being solo, forced a fumble and grabbed his first interception of the year. Last season, he had 48 total tackles and three interceptions.

So far this season, he has almost reached his total from 2023 with 39 tackles and one interception through eight games.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian often praises Taaffe and knows that he is one of the most respected members of the team. For Taaffe, the respect goes both ways, as he knows how much respect his team has for Sarkisian.

Prior to the Vanderbilt game, Taaffe's first thought was to move on from the loss to Georgia.

"Nobody likes to lose," Taaffe said after the Georgia game. "But we flipped the script, flipped the narrative, and now we're on Vanderbilt. The sun came up. We have everything in front of us. I love how college football is structured right now, because you have 12 teams that get to battle for a national championship the end of it. But if we were worried about that, then we would be taking our focus off of Vanderbilt, and they deserve our focus."

Against Vanderbilt, he stepped into a bigger role as safety because of an injury to senior safety Andrew Mukuba. His focus is always on the next opponent and focusing on what he can do better as a player and to support his team.

His performance garnered him national attention from the Burlsworth Trophy. Instead of taking his other scholarship offers, Taaffe decided to join the Longhorns as a preferred walk-on to follow his dream of playing for the University of Texas.

The story of Brandon Burlsworth is a story of great resilience as he left high school with no scholarship offers, walked on at the University of Arkansas, was put on scholarship and then drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 1999. Though Burlsworth tragically lost his life in a car accident 11 days after he was drafted, his story lives on.

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