Michael Taaffe

Michael Joseph Taaffe (born February 18, 2003) is an American football safety for the Texas Longhorns.

Michael Taaffe

Texas Longhorns – No. 16
Position	Safety
Class	Redshirt Senior
Major	Sport Management
Personal information
Born:	(2003-02-18) February 18, 2003 (age 22)
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	189 lb (86 kg)
Career history
College	Texas (2021–present)
High school	Westlake (Austin, Texas)
Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-American (2024)
Stats at ESPN

High School career

Taaffe attended Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. He played cornerback and wide receiver in high school. As a senior, Taaffe recorded 60 tackles and five interceptions while catching 18 passes for 297 yards and three touchdown receptions.^[1] Taaffe's most notable high school highlight is intercepting Carroll Senior High School and future Texas Quarterback Quinn Ewers twice in their state championship game. Also, Taaffe helped lead Westlake to back-to-back state championship titles.^[2] On November 5, 2020, Taaffe committed to Rice.^[3] However, Taaffe was offered a walk-on spot at Texas and decided to accept the Longhorns offer.

College career

Taaffe saw no playing time during his freshman year. However, when Taaffe was a redshirt freshman, he played in 13 games totaling 26 combined tackles. Prior to the Alamo Bowl, Taaffe was granted a full scholarship by Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian on December 18, 2022.^[4] During Taaffe's sophomore season, he amassed a total of 48 tackles and 3 interceptions.^[5] This led to Taaffe earning honorable mention All-Big 12 and a Burlsworth Trophy nominee.^[6][7] During Taaffe's junior season, he earned SEC co-defensive player of the week and Burlsworth Trophy walk-on of the week honors.^[8][9] Taaffe also earned second team AP All-American honors.^[10] During the 2024 College Football Playoffs, a high hit by Taaffe led to the Big 12 commissioner to call for consistency in targeting penalty calls.^[11]