Adam Taliaferro

Adam J. Taliaferro (born January 1, 1982) is a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in the state of New Jersey and a former American football player whose recovery from a paralyzing spinal cord injury sustained while playing cornerback for the Penn State Nittany Lions gained national media attention. In the New Jersey General Assembly Taliaferro represents the Third Legislative District which covers portions of South Jersey. A Democrat, he was appointed to the seat in January 2015 after having served on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders for three years. Taliaferro was elected to his first full two-year term in the Assembly in November 2015.[1]

Adam Taliaferro
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 3rd District
Assumed office
January 29, 2015
Serving with John Burzichelli
Preceded byCeleste Riley
Deputy Majority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly
Assumed office
January 9, 2018
LeaderCraig Coughlin
Preceded byAngelica M. Jimenez
Chair of the New Jersey General Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee
Assumed office
January 9, 2018
Preceded byDaniel R. Benson
Member of the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders
In office
January 1, 2012 – January 29, 2015
Preceded bySteve Sweeney
Succeeded byJim Jefferson
Personal details
Born (1982-01-01) January 1, 1982
Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceWoolwich Township, New Jersey
EducationPennsylvania State University (B.S.)
Rutgers Law School (J.D.)
WebsiteLegislative web page

Penn State career

In 2000, Taliaferro joined the Penn State Nittany Lions football team as one of the top-rated freshmen of their 2000 recruiting class. Taliaferro earned playing time as a true freshman for Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions, despite Paterno's well-documented tendency to redshirt freshman players. Growing up in Voorhees Township, New Jersey,[2] he was a standout running back and cornerback for the Eastern Regional High School Vikings. In two years of varsity football at Eastern High School, he averaged 9.4 yards per carry, racking up 62 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Taliaferro was also a four-year varsity starter in basketball, and set his school's record in the high jump at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).

On September 23, 2000, while playing in only the fifth game of his college career, Taliaferro sustained a career-ending spinal cord injury while tackling tailback Jerry Westbrooks during Penn State's game versus Ohio State. Taliaferro's helmet had hit Westbrooks' knee during the tackle, bursting the fifth cervical vertebra in his neck and bruising his spinal cord.[3] Unable to control his fall, the crown of his helmet hit the turf and his body rolled awkwardly over his neck. Taliaferro was paralyzed on the hit, which left him with no movement from the neck down.

Recovery

Taliaferro had surgery at the Ohio State Medical Center to fuse his C-5 vertebrate. After successful surgery, Taliaferro was airlifted back to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to begin his recovery. Although surgery was successful, Taliaferro was only given a 3% chance of ever walking again.[3]

He began his well-publicized rehab at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After eight months of rehab, Taliaferro had learned to walk again.

Return to Penn State

Taliaferro returned to Penn State less than a year after his injury. He led the Penn State Nittany Lions football team onto Beaver Stadium's field for the first game of the 2001 season against the Miami Hurricanes in front of a record crowd of 109,313. Taliaferro skipped, then jogged onto the field in front of an emotional Penn State crowd.

He remained part of the football team as a student-assistant coach under Joe Paterno. Taliaferro earned a Bachelor of Science in Labor and Industrial Relations from Penn State in 2005.

Miracle in the Making & The Adam Taliaferro Foundation

In 2001, a book was written by Sam Carchidi and Scott Brown to chronicle Taliaferro's life and recovery, entitled Miracle in the Making.

Taliaferro created his own foundation to help support others with spinal cord injuries. The foundation was created in 2001, and continues to grow each year. The foundation has been said to raise over $80,000 per year for spinal cord injuries.

In 2008, he was named the recipient of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association "Humanitarian Award". In the spring of 2012, he was elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees.[4] Following his appointment to the New Jersey General Assembly, he announced he would not seek a second term on the Board.[5]

Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders

On November 8, 2011, he was elected to serve on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders.[6] A resident of Woolwich Township, he assumed office on January 6, 2012.[7] He subsequently won reelection to the Freeholder board in 2014 and served until his appointment to the General Assembly.[8]

New Jersey Assembly

Following the resignation of Assemblywoman Celeste Riley in 2015 from the General Assembly, Taliaferro was chosen by the county Democratic committees represented by the 3rd district to fill the vacant seat. He was sworn in on January 29, 2015.[5] He has been elected in his own right to the same seat in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Taliaferro was appointed as a Deputy Majority Leader on January 9, 2018. He was also chosen to Chair the Law and Public Safety Committee.

Committee assignments
  • Agriculture and Natural Resources [9]
  • Education
  • Legislative Services Commission
  • Law and Public Safety

Personal life

Taliaferro enrolled at Rutgers School of Law–Camden in Camden, New Jersey. He earned his J.D. in May 2008 and worked as a lawyer at Duane Morris in the firm's Cherry Hill office for five years.[3][10] In September 2012, he joined pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb as a healthcare advocate, focusing on mental health, oncology, and HIV products.[11] Taliaferro also runs his own foundation which helps student athletes with head or spinal injuries[3] and is a motivational speaker, doing corporate appearances and speaking at schools.

District 3

New Jersey's 3rd Legislative District comprises parts of Gloucester County, Cumberland County, and all of Salem County. The representatives from the 3rd District to the 219th New Jersey Legislature are:[12]

Electoral History

Assembly
2019 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 3rd Legislative District[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic John Burzichelli (Incumbent) 23,811 27.8% 2.5
Democratic Adam Taliaferro (Incumbent) 23,719 27.1% 2.1
Republican Beth Sawyer 19,704 23.0% 2.7
Republican Edward R. Durr 18,742 21.9% 2.7
Total votes
New Jersey general election, 2017[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic John J. Burzichelli 31,853 30.3 1.8
Democratic Adam Taliaferro 30,733 29.2 2.1
Republican Philip J. Donohue 21,758 20.7 1.6
Republican Linwood H. Donelson III 20,181 19.2 1.2
One for All Edward R. Durr 589 0.6 N/A
Total votes '105,114' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2015[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic John Burzichelli 20,507 28.5 0.5
Democratic Adam Taliaferro 19,480 27.1 0.2
Republican Samuel J. Maccarone Jr. 16,063 22.3 0.3
Republican Leroy P. Pierce III 14,715 20.4 2.0
The People's Voice John Kalnas 1,223 1.7 N/A
Total votes '71,988' '100.0'

References
  1. NJ Decides 2015 Election Results, NJTV News, November 3, 2015. Accessed November 7, 2015.
  2. Kindred, David. "One amazing freshman", The Sporting News, August 27, 2001. Accessed March 17, 2011. "For three months, from October 6 past his 19th birthday on New Year's Day to January 5, Taliaferro underwent rehabilitation therapy at the Magee Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia, 15 miles from his home in Voorhees, N.J."
  3. Weber, Jim (19 July 2010). "Finding Adam Taliaferro: 10 years later, devastating injury spawns professional passion". Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  4. "Penn State University - Board of Trustees - Adam J. Taliaferro". July 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  5. Caffrey, Michelle (January 29, 2015). "Adam Taliaferro sworn in to Assembly seat, will not seek re-election to Penn State Board of Trustees". South Jersey Times. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  6. Via Associated Press. "Former Penn State footballer Adam Taliaferro gains seat as Gloucester County freeholder", The Trentonian, November 9, 2011. Accessed January 8, 2012. "Former Penn State football player Adam Taliaferro was elected to the Gloucester County Board of Freeholders last night. Taliaferro made an inspirational recovery from a paralyzing game injury 11 years ago and has now successfully been elected in New Jersey for the first time. Taliaferro ran as a Democrat."
  7. Romalino, Carly Q. "Freeholder-elect Taliaferro admits to pre-swearing-in jitters", Gloucester County Times, January 3, 2012. Accessed January 8, 2012. "“There are some nerves, but I am confident,” said Taliaferro, of Woolwich Township. “When I first sit down, for me, it’s finally time to do work. To have the opportunity to get started is really going to be exciting to me.”"
  8. Caffrey, Michelle (February 13, 2015). "Democrats tap Woodbury man to be newest freeholder for Gloucester County". South Jersey Times. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  9. "Assemblyman Adam J. Taliaferro (D)". njleg.state.nj.us. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-05-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/jeff-blumenthal/2012/09/former-penn-state-player-taliaferro.html
  12. Legislative Roster 2016-2017 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed August 25, 2016.
  13. "NJ General Assembly 03". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  14. "2017-official-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  15. "2015-official-ge-results-nj-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by
Celeste Riley		 Member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 3rd District
January 29, 2015 – present
With: John J. Burzichelli		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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