Details emerge on Marshall Taylor Incident

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AUBURN, Ala. — As former Auburn defensive back Marshall Taylor met informally with NFL scouts and coaches in attendance after completing drills at Auburn’s Pro Day on Friday, one topic of conversation was brought up continuously.

It wasn’t necessarily something Taylor wanted to talk about, but something he knew needed to be addressed.

The questions were regarding the summer night that left Taylor battered, bloody and bruised and, later, was a factor in the dismissal of presumed starting running back Jovon Robinson on the first day of fall practice.

In his first meeting with reporters since the incident, Taylor told the story of the night as he remembers it.

“He invited me to go to a party. We got over there, and things got ugly real fast. I took the worst end of it,” Taylor said. “ … I’m pretty sure that he was messing with a married-type chick or something. I was the first one seen, so I caught the beating. I got knocked out.”

Taylor said Robinson returned to Auburn with an unconscious Taylor in tow. Taylor said Robinson left him in his dorm room, still unconscious, and did not seek medical attention.

“(Former Auburn defensive backs coach (Wesley) McGriff found me in my room, because my mother was worried and blowing his phone up,” Taylor said. “He got into my room to find me and then took me to the training room.”

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There, Taylor said the trainers used ammonia to revive him and quickly attended to his various injuries. He refused to elaborate on what those injuries were, but he did say they included many cuts.

Robinson denied involvement in the altercation shortly after his dismissal, saying he was “stereotyped and disrespected” by the Auburn coaching staff. A source close to the situation, however, told AuburnUndercover at the time that Robinson had admitted to a pair of incidents, including the one with Taylor, to those close to him.

Taylor, a graduate transfer from Miami (Ohio), missed much of fall camp as he recovered, which cut into his playing time early in the season. He totaled eight tackles and three pass breakups in 12 games.

The 6-foot-3, 191-pound cornerback said he was not involved in internal discussions regarding whether Robinson should be allowed back for Pro Day as dismissed wide receiver Duke Williams was last year.

“It’s not my school,” Taylor said. “It’s coach (Gus) Malzahn’s program. Whatever he sees fit, he has the right to do. I’m just thankful. He could have got rid of me too back then. He gave me a second chance, and I kept a pretty straight, clean line after that. I’m appreciative of that.”

Robinson ultimately was not in attendance on Friday, which Taylor said “didn’t matter” to him. Malzahn deflected a question on the situation.

“I’m just going to talk about the guys that performed today here,” he said.

Taylor said he saw Robinson on Friday morning, but the two did not speak. The former running back has been spotted several times around Auburn in recent weeks, including at the athletics complex on National Signing Day.

Ultimately, Taylor said the incident served as a “life lesson learned,” and he has “no hard feelings” toward Robinson or anyone in the program.

He knows the questions will keep coming, but he’s prepared to answer them and keep looking to the future.

“As a teammate, you just assume that the guy next to you wearing the same jersey will have your back,” Taylor said. “ … He made the decision, and he’s got to live with it. I made the decision to go with him, and I’ve got to live with it.”

AuburnUndercover has been unable to reach Robinson since the summer.

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