Joy Taylor nervous as nephew enters NFL Draft: ‘It’s a familiar anxiety’

Joy Taylor will have a renewed interest in the NFL this season, when her nephew begins his pro football career.

As a top-graded tight end prospect, Mason Taylor, the son of Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jason Taylor and the nephew of Fox Sports host Joy Taylor is expected to be drafted this week.

And Joy Taylor recently joined her Miami radio co-host Jonathan Zaslow on his podcast, where she discussed the emotions of bracing to hear her nephew’s name called in the NFL Draft.

“I’m excited. I’m excited for him, but I’m nervous,” the Speak on FS1 host admitted. “Because for 15 years, I watched this sport with a severe emotional attachment in my brother. And since he’s retired in 2011, so for a while now, I’ve been able to watch it without that. And now it’s back. And it’s like a familiar anxiety. When your family plays in something, when your family is a part of something, it’s very different.”

Having a close family member to root for in the NFL must be exciting, but it’s going to make Sundays more stressful than they’ve been since Jason Taylor retired in 2011. The last 15 years or so were probably freeing for Joy Taylor as a fan and analyst.

“We work in the business so we get a little bit jaded from fandom in covering sports in general,” Taylor added. “It’s an interesting sensation that is going to be back after tomorrow, depending on where Mason goes.”

While Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland are two tight end prospects who are considered locks to hear their names called Thursday night in the NFL Draft, LSU’s Mason Taylor is projected to be on the cusp of the first and second rounds. Because of her FS1 responsibilities, Taylor will watch the NFL Draft from Los Angeles Thursday night, but said she’ll be with her family this weekend.

Taylor did, however, recall being with her family when her brother was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft.

“He kept checking the phone line to make sure no one had bumped the phone line out from the wall,” Taylor remembered. “And then eventually, Jimmy Johnson called and drafted him. But I remember seeing him walk up and down the street on the phone with Jimmy, which was wild. And now…28 years later, it’s going to be my nephew.”