Maryland Football’s Newest Family Member: Cal Taylor

When Maryland football players have the privilege of signing a National Letter of Intent to play for the Terrapins, they’re typically surrounded by their families and get to put on team gear after making one of the biggest decisions of their lives. 

The Terps' National Signing Day may have taken place earlier this year, but that didn’t stop Head Coach Michael Locksley from adding another teammate to his Maryland football family. 

Callaghan ‘Cal’ Taylor is a nine-year-old boy from Alexandria, Virginia, and has been fighting an inflammatory disease that has caused him to spend time in and out of the hospital and has kept him out of school for the past 18 months.

During that time, Cal has also been an unofficial member of the Maryland football team where he’s been talking and video chatting with the coaches and players. However, due to COVID-19, that’s been the extent of their relationship. 

That all changed this past weekend as the Taylor family made the trip to College Park in order for Cal to sign his paperwork and officially become as Coach Locksley puts it: Locked In. 

“Our team is able to be a beacon of hope or just a beacon of support for the things that he’s gone through,” Locksley said. “It’s really neat to be able to have him here on campus because we could only do Zoom. To be able to have him here in person to see our players and develop some of those strong relationships with our team.”

Cal is diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis which is an inflammatory disease of the muscles, skin, and blood vessels. The medicine he is on is designed to stop his immune system from attacking his muscles, but the side effects also leave Cal in a weakened state. 

Despite all of this, Cal has persevered and is still full of joy and happiness. He loves to smile, he loves to play with his friends, he loves to play video games but what he really loves is Maryland football. 

Cal signed up with Team Impact, a healthcare organization supporting children facing serious and chronic illnesses by matching them with a college athletic team, and they set him up to make his dream come true. 

Team Impact and the University of Maryland are strong partners as the Terps are home to the most Team Impact children of any school in the entire country. 

Josh Walker is the Regional Executive Director for the Mid-Atlantic for Team Impact and he accompanied Cal and the Taylor family to Jones-Hill House where Cal could take a look around and meet with the team. 

Walker lauded the entire Maryland athletic department as the standard bearer when it comes to teaming with Team Impact.  

“Increasingly, and this has been something across the board at Maryland, there's an emphasis on the entire person and not just the healthcare aspect,” Walker said. “We work with schools all over the country but Maryland was the first official elevated partner that we established in order to really reinforce our goals for the future.”

The Maryland Athletics relationship with Team Impact is a robust and meaningful one.

“To see the look on Cal’s face as he met with Coach Locks and some of his favorite Terps on his signing day was a moment we will all remember,” said Athletic Director Damon Evans, who is a member of Team Impact’s National Board of Directors. “Our partnership with Team Impact is special as it truly impacts so many individuals in a positive way. Most importantly with our new teammates such as Cal and his family, but also our coaches and student-athletes. This is a relationship we are all very proud of.”

Somebody both Locksley and Walker praised for their dedication and attentiveness to Cal was receiver Brian Cobbs. The senior from Alexandria, Virginia not only shares a hometown with Cal, but Cal attends the same elementary school that Brian did when he was younger. 

Cobbs has been at the forefront of Maryland’s efforts to be more involved with the community but being Cal’s friend takes on a whole different meaning. 

“Cal always wants to play catch so we got him a new pair of gloves,” Cobbs said with a smile. “I think he just gravitates to the game of football. To bring this situation into his life really just makes me happy.”

Between doctor visits and hospital visits, Cal has endured more than most during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is fighting his illness, taking medicine that makes him sick, and can’t really go anywhere because of the virus. 

The Maryland football team has been a bright spot for him as the coaching staff and players take the time to video call and Zoom call with Cal so he can have a break from the hardships. 

One of Cal’s favorite things to do is to play the video game Fortnite over Zoom with players like Cobbs (who admitted he is not very good at the game) and it’s the little things like that are really special to the newest Terp.

“It’s pretty cool,” Cal said while grinning with one of his front teeth missing. “Just to have someone to talk to and to play with is pretty cool.”

Team Impact means a lot to both the children and the team’s they get matched with but also to the families who’ve seen the difficult times firsthand. 

Cal’s mother Shannon more than just about anyone else has seen her son struggle and believes that this partnership with the team is helping him get through these challenging times. 

“It’s fantastic,” a visibly emotional Shannon said. “Cal has a lot of medical challenges and so just knowing that there’s this team of players who are there to talk to him and reach out to him. He sees the challenges that they’re going through and with them working hard every day it translates to him having to do the same.”

Locksley feels that experience is reciprocated as Cal’s struggles also allow his team to remain aware of how lucky they are to be in the position that they’re in. Locksley has preached that no excuses and no complaining will be tolerated and with Cal now in the fold, he expects his players and staff to have a better perspective on life. 

Since he was named the coach in 2018, Locksley has had four pillars that he wants all of his players to embody. Those pillars are toughness, effort, relentlessness and pride. 

The toughness it takes for Cal to wake up every morning and face that battle, the effort it takes for him to fight through the pain, the relentless needed to never give up and the pride he has in himself to want to get better.

The relationship between Cal and the Maryland football team may be two years old, but it’s also just beginning a new chapter. Now decked out in his new Maryland swag, including a personalized #44 jersey, Cal can’t wait for every single moment of it. 

“I’m really excited to meet all the players,” Cal said. “I’m also really excited to go to the games, and watch the games on TV, and to see all of the guys who go to the NFL.”