Newly signed Saints DE Taco Charlton has a name made for menu board specials, but where's the name come from?
It didn't have anything to do with his food preferences, at least not from the time that he actually had a say in the matter.
“It was a name my grandma gave me before I was born, so I kinda had nothing to do with it," Charlton said on SportsTalk with Bobby Hebert, Kristian Garic and Mike Detillier. "A lot of people think like maybe I grew up loving tacos … but it’s really a name my grandma and mother came up with while I was in the womb, and when I came out it kinda stuck.”
Listen to the full interview with Charlton in the player below. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Charlton, a former first-round pick in the 2017 draft of the Dallas Cowboys, hasn't lived up to his hype coming out Michigan thus far with 11.5 sacks and 92 tackles with four different teams, including three in the past three seasons (Dolphins, Chiefs, Steelers). But he says he's learned from all those different systems and sees an opportunity to thrive under co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, who has managed to wring maximum production out of a number of Saints pass-rushers the past several seasons.
In joining the Saints, Charlton will be getting back to his 4-3 roots from his Cowboys tenure after a few seasons in 3-4 systems and an outside linebacker role.
"I can come off the ball, wreak havoc, I can rush the passer, get after it. I can pin my ears back," Charlton said. "Like I said the success that coach Nielsen has had wth most d-ends that’s he’s had … the production and everything, he’s able to put his guys in great positions. Like I said, I’m happy to be here.”
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