By now you may have heard of former Wisconsin defensive back Leonard Taylor Jr., who was charged on Monday with one felony stalking count and one count of misdemeanor telephone harassment for threatening Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez and tennis star Maria Sharapova. This is a sad story from start to finish, as Taylor's father has said that his son is mentally ill, and hasn't been taking his medication. Still, a more unlikely duo than Alvarez and Sharapova you'd be hard-pressed to come up with, unless you're picking names out of a hat.
Taylor played for Alvarez from 1995 to 1998, and in one of life's cruel ironies, also played briefly for the Madison Mad Dogs, a professional indoor football team. Speaking of crazy, remember two of the league's other gloriously-named franchises, the Steel Valley Smash and Utah Catzz? But I digress.
Taylor, 32, left dozens of voicemail messages with the Wisconsin athletic department within the last week. Those messages included a call on Nov. 24 during which he said he would come to Madison to kill Alvarez and his family.
"I'll kill you first, mother (expletive)," Taylor said. "I've got 24 (expletive) hours, mother (expletive). I'm coming for your (expletive) ass. You might have a (expletive) war."
The profanity-laced messages accused Sharapova of committing various injustices against him. He said he wanted to marry her and kill her and her family.
"Barry, you heard that (expletive) message, (expletive) it. I hate that (expletive) Maria Sharapova ... I just want to look at you one (expletive) last time before I pull the (expletive) trigger, Barry," one message said.
Taylor was arrested on Friday in Indianapolis, where he lives. And so I'm left wondering, how did he get all of those phone numbers? Once he's better, this man has a future in sales.
Former Wisc. Player Accused Of Threatening Alvarez [Chicago Tribune]
Ex-Player Charged With Threats To Alvarez [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]