Santa Claus Came to Town: Phil Taylor provides a Christmas for local children

On a cold night in December, there’s a jolly man riding around town in a matching suit with an epic beard and a cap placed upon his head. He has a few toys at his disposal—your standard juvenile arsenal of foam-launching equipment. But instead of a sleigh, boots with bells and reindeer leading the way, that man is Phil Taylor, the Browns’ 350-pound defensive tackle, and he’s riding around a Wal Mart in an Amigo Value Shopper cart as 40 underprivileged children from the city of Cleveland are doing some Christmas shopping on his dime.

The entire evening is a part of a “Shop with a Jock” campaign that is run by Taylor’s foundation, TaylorMade98. While Taylor himself is sequestered to a low-octane motorized cart due to recent knee surgery, teammates like linebackers Craig Robertson and Zac Diles, defensive back Johnson Bademosi, defensive lineman John Hughes and offensive lineman John Greco are all on foot throughout the store as the children look for a few items of desire for the holiday season.

“It’s great to be able to be in a position to give back this way,” Taylor says in between moments of signing autographs, posing for pictures and picking out a few toys of his own— one of which is a royal blue 30-round dart blaster shaped much like an old Tommy gun for the youngest of his two pit bulls, Apollo. While Taylor is wheeling around near the electronics area, Greco is deeply immersed in a bevy of choices near the Spiderman section; Diles is testing out a potential purchase with another child as the two whip a nerf football down stretches of the sporting goods aisle.

Bademosi was once one of those children, growing up in the Washington DC area, being a part of a foundation that allowed him to have a holiday season akin to his peers. Now he’s helping the next generation do the same.

But while you would expect the majority of the time being spent in the toy aisles searching for action figures of all shapes and sizes, a good portion of the children start their nights off in the apparel area where they choose to anchor their purchases with winter coats and boots, items of necessity that most otherwise take for granted. One specific kid had his cart full of outer layer type items, layering in an orange football and a small toy for good measure.

“You see what types of kids they are,” says Taylor. “Many of them, before even looking for toys for themselves, want to pick up something for their little sister or brother or mom and dad. It’s just great to be able to give back to not only these children, but others in their lives.”

The next night, Taylor, who grew up in a middle-class home, and his teammates will do the exact same thing—take over a local Wal Mart for 40 more children, chosen based on need and their entry into an essay contest about giving to the community, each armed with $100 a piece (though he’s not about to tell anyone who goes over by a few dollars to put something back). They’ll have a few laughs, pick up a few new items, and have memories for the rest of their lives. His hopes are that one day, if they are provided the opportunity to give back, that they recall these days spent with a handful of their athletic idols and pay it forward, even if they can’t grow a festive beard quite like his.