The Hall of Honor is a mixture of alumni, retired employees, and supporters of the school district. Many of the alumni have excelled outside of the Sidney area while others stayed local to make a difference at home. Todd Taylor (SHS 1990) has been successful in professional sports administration which obviously couldn’t happen by staying in his home area.
Taylor’s potential was definitely on display during his high school days beginning with his freshmen class Vice-Presidency which was followed by three elections as class President. Todd lettered twice in baseball and three times in football. As a senior he was an integral cog in the Yellow Jackets 1989 regional football championship as a wide receiver, defensive back, and place-kick holder. The class President was named “most inspirational” on his team and was recognized as an all-conference and all-Ohio receiver.
Taylor graduated from The Ohio State University and worked in sales before becoming intrigued with the prospect of plying his trade in the world of professional sports. In 1998 Todd formulated an application strategy that would get him noticed and hired by a new and yet unnamed National Hockey League franchise in Columbus. Taking the job would mean a pay cut, but there was solid opportunity for advancement in pro sports, especially if he was willing to move around the country. A subsequent move to basketball’s Portland Trail Blazers allowed him to “test my abilities” before he ran the ticketing and marketing side of both the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.
He was in Texas less than a year when Pacers Sports and Entertainment wanted to bring him to Indianapolis as Executive Vice-President of both their NBA and WNBA basketball franchises, which would place him and his wife much closer to their Sidney roots. In 2011 Taylor departed an organization headed by pitching legend Nolan Ryan for one run by hoops legend Larry Bird. By age 40 he had already been a Vice-President of five major team sports organizations and earned inclusion on the prestigious Sports Business Journal “Forty Under 40” list which identifies and recognizes the most influential young executives in professional sports.
Among those supporting Taylor’s Hall of Honor nomination was current University of Colorado Director of Athletics Rick George who had been Todd’s boss with the Rangers. George cited Taylor’s personal character along with branding and marketing analyses that facilitated major ticket sales growth after Taylor’s departure.
Todd and his wife Jennifer (Wourms, Lehman HS 1991), are the parents of three children and reside near Indianapolis while making frequent visits to Sidney. He is the first member of the 1990 graduating class to join the Hall.