Against All Odds
"He has been fighting the odds all his life. Pinched nerves caused by forceps at birth left Elton with no use of his right arm and no feeling from the elbow down." By Dr. Greg Shepard "My mother just kept telling me to e does what?" I exclaimed afte! hearing Coach Paul Hoggard tell about Elton Taylor. I mean to have a high school lineman Power Clean 235 pounds is very good. In fact it is our BFS All-State Standard. However, to have a kid do it with one hand? All I can say is "Wow!" Make that a double "Wow!" Elton was teased a lot in grade school. There were fjghts and some punches thrown. "It kept up pretty well throughout grade school but my mother told me to just ignore it,'"
remembered Elton. "At recess I didn't get picked or was the last one to get picked." put forth my best effort. She inspired me. She got to believe that I could do anything that I wanted to do In junior high the teasing stopped some but then when new kids would come into school it would start all over again. It hurt me inside. Because of my mother and things I was taught at church, I didn't react negatively to the taunting or do any stupid or destructive things." When Elton was in the seventh grade, he was already 6-1 and 220 pounds. However, Elton's mother was afraid he would get hurt which resulted in no football However, Elton did get to lift weights with his older brother.
He put on another 15 pounds for his eighth Elton has an incredible Power Clean of 235Ibs.! 11 When asked about Power Cleaning with one hand, Elton replied, "} have the balance down no",... Ifs no problem. I help a little with my bad arm. A lot of people ask me if it hurts when I clean. It doesn't." Elton plans on some kind of career with computers after high schoo!. His grades are at the 85 level. Elton is always on time to classes and never misses a class. Elton shared his philosophy of life, "Work hard. Don't give up and do what you want to do.-· Elton has led an exemplary life. He has never had drugs and is puzzled over the power peer pressure has on some kids.
We thank Elton for being a true Upper Limit athlete and person. There are no excuses after witnessing Elton's achievements 0 Elton Just Set a New Squat Record at 575 Pounds. He Uses the Safe Squat Bar. grade year but still no football "In the 9th grade I begged my mom to play football and she finally said I could play. Some of the other kids said that I couldn' t lift but then some of them helped. So today I can do pretty much everything. No one bothers me now or teases me. I guess the kids grew up. They matured.
Taylor Benches 165 Pounds with a Full Sized 7 Foot Olympic Bar " .Et:rON TAYLOR' Elton Taylor has been fighting tilt< odds all :his,' life',: J)jn~h:d n~~~e; caused"o.y'forc6ps ,at birth left EltQn with !10 use of his right arm and no feelillg from the elbow down, Desplte:,theod<is;Elton.; a 16'year,old'junior, plays left tackle for the An~on Senior High Bearcats. . . .» , . . .
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Elton did not play ball until Junior High but caught tll'efev,er fromllls b~Qther, Roger" ~fio starred a Bearcat aJ;ld wept Qnto play right guard for Northwest Mississippi Junior College and currently at W-ingate Cbllege in North Carolina. " "
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From BFS Magazine — Fall 1994. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
