This thread could very well be about how, despite several buffoons on this board loudly complaining otherwise, this former walk-on safety has been the best player on the field for short stretches despite playing on one of the most talented Texas defenses in recent memory. Or for the Blake Gideon and Dylan Haines jokes. Frankly it’s unbelievable this thread title is said without irony or sarcasm.
But I also wanted to highlight and memorialize Taaffe’s postgame remarks in response to that heinous game day sign, because the remarks demonstrate remarkable character and why he is an exemplary representative of this program.
For the uninformed, some red ass “blue collar salt of the earth” ag inexplicably brought a sign to College Gameday making fun of deceased Texas walk on Jake Ehlinger, who tragically passed away in a fentanyl-related accident. Obviously this behavior doesn’t represent the entire Texas A&M fanbase. Most alumni would condemn this once understanding the context, and many already have (although I am sure everyone here has met exceptions and can debate in another thread). But unlike most game day signs and taunts, this one actually provokes a reaction. Austin is now a big city but it is still a small community in a lot of ways. The Ehlingers live and work here. If you’ve met this family and know what they have been through in the past, that gameday sign gets even more odious.
So in the postgame press conference Michael Taaffe somehow trumps his cathartic performance on the field with remarks far better than anything I could have come up with:
“I want to say I feel sorry for the person that posted that sign. I feel sorry for him because I don't know what he's going through, how much he's dealing with in life. To think that that was a good idea, to think that was OK, to think that was appropriate for anything, no matter what rivalry. I just wanted to make that clear."
The national media and our fanbase will quickly move on from this win because at the end of the day we just beat a middling 8-4 SEC team. But I felt that Michael Taaffe’s maturity and passion deserves special recognition and it shouldn’t get buried in a game thread. Proud he’s a Longhorn.