Forget Football? Taylor's Got Stars in His Eyes

Jason Taylor and his "Dancing With the Stars" partner, Edyta Sliwinska, perform on the show last May in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/ABC, Kelsey McNeal)Enlarge Image

Next up for Jason Taylor: Hollywood? The hunky Redskins defensive end, released from the team Monday, says he wants to spend more time with his family -- but he's also got big ambitions for fame off the football field.

Taylor, 34, has an acting coach and a L.A.-based sports agent who helped him land glossy magazine covers and appearances with Jay Leno and Larry King. He was the first male Neutrogena spokesman, one of People's "100 Most Beautiful" and a runner-up on "Dancing With the Stars" last year. The "Dancing" gig reportedly ticked off his Miami Dolphins coaches, but Taylor made plenty of VIP fans on the West Coast: He hung out with Denzel Washington, who encouraged him to keep acting and wanted to introduce him to Al Pacino.

"Mostly, I can see myself doing action films," Taylor wrote in ESPN the Magazine. "The Rock has had some films that I think he's done a good job with. ... Like Denzel said, the dancing thing is basically acting and getting into character with your partner every week. So it's a step in the right direction."

So, what are his chances of making it big? Taylor's PR agency, Rogers & Cowan, just won a big industry award for its strategic blitz to "reposition" the 6-foot-6 pro as a mainstream heartthrob, but there hasn't been a big crossover football-to-movie star for decades: Jim Brown ("The Dirty Dozen") and Carl Weathers ("Rocky," "Predator," "Action Jackson"). The most successful ex-pro is probably O.J. Simpson ... well, let's not go there.

Taylor's agent, Gary Wichard, didn't return our calls yesterday.