No problem, you figure. Taylor was headed home to await the phone call that would secure his future. On the list of must-have NFL Draft accessories, new car comes right after new house for mama.
But when Taylor goes car-shopping, it won't be for a Hummer or an Escalade. It won't be new. And it won't be for a while.
"I'm probably not gonna have a car for the rest of the summer,” the former Nebraska quarterback says.
Because even after taking that phone call, Taylor's not sure he'll have a job the rest of the summer.
You've read a lot recently about Adrian Peterson and the other instant millionaires. This is about the other end of the NFL Draft. This is about the guys who go in the "eighth round,” according to another local quarterback — and for clarification, the draft ends after seven.
Like Taylor, Oklahoma's Paul Thompson agreed to a free-agent deal Sunday night. Taylor signed with Tampa Bay, Thompson with the New York Jets. This means they get a shot — a very long shot — at making it in the NFL.
With signing bonuses of several thousand instead of several million, they won't be going on spending sprees. But at least they're going somewhere.
"It just comes down,” Thompson says, "to having the opportunity to prove yourself.”
It's funny how these things work.
Taylor shattered just about every passing record at Nebraska. Thompson led Oklahoma to a surprising Big 12 title. Five months ago, these guys battled in prime time for the conference championship.
But when the draft dust settled, 11 quarterbacks had been chosen. Taylor and Thompson weren't included.
Each suspected this would happen, which was why neither paid much attention to the doings in New York.
Instead, Taylor spent Saturday afternoon with his dad, brother and fiancée at Westwood Park, trying unsuccessfully to keep his ball in the right fairway.
Thompson and his parents watched his younger brother's high school track meet in San Antonio, a short drive from his Leander, Texas, home.
They kept up enough to know Peterson went No. 7 to the Vikings and Brady Quinn didn't go anywhere for a long time. And they understood their time was coming, but much later.
"It's weird,” Thompson says. "But it's just how it goes.”
And it went as Taylor and Thompson expected. Which is why even on Sunday they found other things to do.
Taylor chipped golf balls in the back yard. Thompson watched the NBA playoffs on the tube. Sometime late in the afternoon, both guys flipped the channel to where the talking heads were rating the fifth-round picks.
Then the phones started ringing. Teams talked about drafting Taylor or Thompson, but wondered more if they were interested in talking after it was over.
Answer: Yes, if it came to that. When it did, the quarterbacks became subscribers to the theory that it's better to go unchosen than to go in the sixth or seventh round.
Don't misunderstand: "You definitely want someone to pick you,” Thompson says.
But this way, they were able to choose systems that fit. Each thinks he did. And each thinks he's ready to disprove a new set of doubters.
Taylor wasn't good enough to play Division I, then he wasn't good enough to win Nebraska's starting job, and then he broke all the school's passing records. Thompson was a wide receiver playing backup quarterback, then he was a wide receiver playing backup wide receiver, and then he was the quarterback who led the Sooners to the Big 12 championship.
Taylor knows people will look at the Bucs' roster and see five other quarterbacks and will write him off. Thompson knows most people think he's a wide receiver — if that — at the next level.
So what?
"You just have to go prove yourself,” Taylor says. "They just promised me a shot. That's all I've ever wanted.”
By the way, Taylor plans to buddy up to Bucs' first-rounder Gaines Adams — a guy who just might be willing to share his new ride. Smart idea, since Taylor's Expedition still isn't running.
"I'm kind of on the other end of things,” Taylor says.
