When Michael Taaffe was playing for Westlake in the 2020 Texas Class 6A State Championship game, he intercepted future college and Miami Dolphins teammate Quinn Ewers twice.
An impressive one-handed interception by Taafee keyed the defeat of Ewers' Southlake Carroll.
The play was so good it was No. 1 on ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 plays.
"At the time, that was probably the coolest moment of my life," Taaffe recalled in a video call with Dolphins media. "Number two was Aaron Rodgers. Number one was little Michael Taffee, walk-on at University of Texas. So pretty cool to know that, you know, you jumped over A-Rod on SportsCenter Top 10."
Former Texas teammate and now current Dolphins teammate Michael Taaffe of Austin Westlake picks off Quinn Ewers of Southlake Carroll twice in the #TXHSFB 2020 6A D1 Texas state championship.21 year old Chase Snyder on the call for @dctf @Texan_Live pic.twitter.com/IbL4EZTJNK
Taafe would go from Texas walk-on to scholarship All-American.
He played with Ewers at Texas and now will join Ewers with the Dolphins.
"My buddy came up to me, he was like, 'Hey, you know, I don't want to bother you. Keep celebrating. But Quinn's on the line,' Taaffe said of draft day. "He just FaceTimed me. I was like, So within two minutes of it getting announced, you know, Quinn FaceTimed me and, you know, I got to talk to him and he was just so fired up and his girlfriend and my girlfriend are really close also."
The Dolphins selected Taaffe in the fifth round. Miami likes his football IQ, communication skills and awareness. He could also potentially be a core special teams player.
"I'll always be an underdog, in my opinion," Taaffe said. "You know, I think you know, rookie is essentially a walk-on all over again because no matter, besides maybe the first round, no matter what pick you got picked, UFA, second through seven, you gotta go earn your stripes and they're, they're going to look at you just as the same as they look at somebody else."
People who have been around Taafee speak about his ability to bring people together, be a good teammate and a good leader. Taafee does not shy away from any of that.
"I know for sure I want to be a leader in life," he said.
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Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Michael Taaffe s one-handed INT of Quinn Ewers once topped SC Top 10