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, 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. 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. 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.
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. Following his appointment to the New Jersey General Assembly, he announced he would not seek a second term on the Board.
Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders
On November 8, 2011, he was elected to serve on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. A resident of Woolwich Township, he assumed office on January 6, 2012. He subsequently won reelection to the Freeholder board in 2014 and served until his appointment to the General Assembly.
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. 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
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. In September 2012, he joined pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb as a healthcare advocate, focusing on mental health, oncology, and HIV products. Taliaferro also runs his own foundation which helps student athletes with head or spinal injuries and is a motivational speaker, doing corporate appearances and speaking at schools.
