From the "it would be funny, except it's not" department: A former Wisconsin Badger football player was arrested Friday on charges of stalking and telephone harassment. Leonard Taylor, a defensive back who played for Barry Alvarez from 1995 to 1998, left dozens of messages at the UW athletic department, including one in which he threatened to kill Alvarez and his family, "I'll kill you first, mother (expletive)," Taylor said, according to the complaint. "I've got 24 (expletive) hours mother (expletive). I'm coming for your (expletive) (expletive). You might have a (expletive) war."
The calls began in early September but ended when Madison police called Taylor and told him to quit. However, the calls resumed on November 24, which led to Taylor's arrest.
The latest calls also included references to tennis player Maria Sharapova, whom Taylor blamed for some of his difficulties. Taylor said he wanted to marry Sharapova, which isn't that unusual a thing for guys his age to say. Or younger guys and older guys, for that matter. He also said he wanted to kill Sharapova and her family as well.
You might figure there's more to this story, stuff that makes it less comical and much sadder, and you'd be right.
Taylor's father, Leonard Taylor Sr., told police Wednesday that his son has been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, has been off his medications for three months and was not seeing his therapist, the complaint states. He said his son refused to go to a hospital for treatment, even after being told about contact by UW-Madison police about the phone messages.Paranoid schizophrenia is not funny, and Taylor's story is not that unusual. People with paranoid schizophrenia walk a fine line between reality and delusion and frequently find themselves on the wrong side of that line, particularly if they go off their meds. Here's hoping Taylor gets the help he needs so he and Alvarez can put this incident behind them.
As for Maria Sharapova, she doesn't work for the University of Wisconsin and thus never got the messages.
