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Cardinals rookie Dadrion Taylor-Demerson is willing to do whatever it takes to stay in the NFL

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Cardinals rookie Dadrion Taylor-Demerson is willing to do whatever it takes to stay in the NFL



© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals’ 2024 rookie class is just months away from being able to suit up and make their National Football League debut, a major moment that anyone growing up playing the sport dreams of.

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One of those excited to be able to reach this point in his career is the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson.

After volunteering at United Food Bank ThursdayTaylor-Demerson talked about what he’s most looking forward to now that he’s in the NFL and understands he’ll have to work hard to stay in the league.

“I can play in the league,” Taylor-Demerson said. “I’ve never played in an NFL stadium, so I have a feeling it’ll be pretty cool. This is the highest level you can achieve in my job. To finally be here, I just want to stay here.

Closing out a five-year college career (2019-23) at Texas Tech, the Oklahoma City native accumulated 224 tackles, 10 interceptions and two sacks. Based on his performance on the field, he received 2023 second-team All-SEC honors and helped the Red Raiders win the 2023 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.

Entering a new environment can be a challenge, especially for athletes transitioning from college to professionals in any sport. New faces, new coaching philosophies and general change of scenery outside of the sport will take time for someone to fully acclimate.

For Taylor-Demerson, however, he isn’t worried about those factors and believes the other Cardinals rookies around him will make his transition even smoother.

“We walk into a new locker room and it never changes, you meet new guys,” Taylor-Demerson said. “It’s the same thing at university: a class leaves and a new class arrives. We’re used to new guys coming in and we’ve known each other pretty well through this process since January. We’ve been together so long that it’s really easy to get along with these guys. We all share the same goals and especially when you come to this league (NFL) here, which is like you. All these guys share the same ideas as me and have the same path as me. This makes it easier to enter work.

Hoping to not only make a lasting impression for the Cardinals on the field, the 23-year-old wants to make an impact as well.

Along with 13 other recruits from the United Food Bank of Mesa, Taylor-Demerson helped prepare 1,300 bags of food for people in need in Arizona, which he was happy to do.

“I’m a big community enthusiast, so this is a great opportunity to come and establish ourselves in a new community and give back,” Taylor-Demerson said. “The easiest way is to distribute food. World hunger is a big problem, so for us to come here and be able to compete in bag making is what’s cool. We are here, acting as if we were on the ground. So coming here, building camaraderie and also giving back to the community is a big plus.

“We always find a way to make a game, to make everything we do kind of fun. This way we make these bags relatively quickly so that we can make additional bags if necessary. It’s pretty cool to come here and give back to a new community.

Rookie corner Elijah Jones excited to begin his NFL career with the Cardinals

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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini