But he's not the sort of bloke you would want in the "I'm A Celb" jungle ... is he?
One current Toon player told NU-Mad he was "close to being the most boring man on the planet!"
He wasn't the only one. Charles N'Zogbia was pinned against the dressing room wall more than once for his Mariah Carey tantrums, and Oba Martins could tell a tall tale or too and raise a few eyebrows.
But they're gone, and now the training camp is a happy place.
Steven Taylor: "Questions were asked when we lost at Blackpool and Scunthorpe, but I think we’ve answered them fairly convincingly.
"We’re a different side this year – more together. We can pass the ball, but we can also do the dirty side of things. If a tackle goes in and a few players react, we’ll get ourselves round and stick together.
"As team-mates, we know we’re going to back each other up. Last season, I’m not sure we had that as much.
"I’m loving it. It’s just a totally different mood about the place. We’re going into training now and having a right good laugh. We know when we have to be serious, but we also know it’s good to have a laugh and a joke.
"The banter is absolutely fantastic on the training ground, and it hasn’t always been like that in the time I’ve been at Newcastle. We’re all mingling as a group, and we know how to take each other, whereas a few years ago you might have got some people forming their own little groups.
"I just wish the public could see what we were like on the inside of the dressing room now because it’s something to be proud of."