 Taylor on a 1961 trading card | |||||||||||||||
| No. 31 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1935-09-20)September 20, 1935 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | October 13, 2018(2018-10-13) (aged 83) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 214 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Baton Rouge High | ||||||||||||||
| College | LSU (1954; 1956–1957) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1958: 2nd round, 15th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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James Charles Taylor (September 20, 1935 – October 13, 2018) was an American professionalfootball player who was afullback in theNational Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, with theGreen Bay Packers from 1958 to 1966 and with the expansionNew Orleans Saints in 1967. With the Packers, Taylor was invited to five straightPro Bowls and won fourNFL championships, as well as a victory in thefirst Super Bowl. He was recognized as theNFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) after winning therushing title in 1962, beating outJim Brown. An aggressive player and fluenttrash talker, Taylor developed several personal rivalries throughout his career, most notably withNew York Giants linebackerSam Huff. This confrontational attitude, combined with his tenacious running style, a penchant for contact, and ability to both withstand and deliver blows, earned him a reputation as one of the league's toughest players.
Playingcollege football for theLSU Tigers, Taylor led theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) in scoring in 1956 and 1957 and earned first-teamAll-America honors as a senior. He was selected by the Packers in the second round of the1958 NFL draft and was used sparingly as a rookie, but with the arrival of coachVince Lombardi in 1959 Taylor soon became the team's all-purpose back, especially when only a few yards were needed. In this role, his spirited performance against the Giants in the1962 NFL Championship Game came to define his mental and physical toughness.
Taylor finished his career after carrying 1,941 times for 8,597 yards and 83 touchdowns. He was the first player to record five straight seasons of at least 1,000 rushing yards. His 81 rushing touchdowns for the Packers remains a franchise record by a wide margin, and his 8,207 rushing yards with the team has been surpassed only once. Taylor was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1976. He is a member of theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame and his number 31 jersey isretired by the Saints.
Born inBaton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 20, 1935,[1] James Charles Taylor had two paper routes to help his widowed mother make ends meet. He delivered the morning and afternoon routes by bicycle for three dollars a week, which helped to develop his leg muscles.[2] Though he did not play football until his junior year, he was a star athlete in four sports atBaton Rouge High School, and graduated in 1954.[3][4] He stayed in town and playedcollege football atLouisiana State University for coachPaul Dietzel'sLSU Tigers football team. Taylor played on LSU's freshman team in 1954, but due to struggles in the classroom, he transferred toHinds Community College inRaymond, Mississippi, as a sophomore, where he met his future wife Dixie Grant. He then returned to LSU as a junior.[5]
Taylor rushed for 1,314 yards and scored 20 rushing touchdowns over his LSU career,[6] and led theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) in scoring in 1956 and 1957.[5] "With the ball under his arm, Jimmy Taylor was the best running back I've ever coached," said Dietzel. "He was just so versatile."[7] After spending the first half of his junior season learning the offense, Taylor scored 51 points in the team's final five games of 1956.[5] As a senior in 1957, he shared the backfield with futureHeisman Trophy winnerBilly Cannon, a combination that accounted for over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns that season. AgainstTexas Tech, due to the Red Raiders' focus on containing Taylor, Cannon had one of the most productive games of his career. The following week, Taylor scored three touchdowns in LSU's 20–13 upset of aNo. 17Georgia Tech team whose focus was on stopping Cannon.[8] In his final college game, Taylor carried 17 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns in a 35–6 victory over in-staterivalTulane.[5] He was selected as a first-teamAll-American by theFootball Writers Association of America,[9] and earned first-team All-SEC honors from theAssociated Press (AP) andUnited Press (UPI).[10][11] After the season, he played in theSenior Bowl and was named the game'smost valuable player.[7]
Taylor was selected by the Packers in the second round of the1958 NFL draft, the 15th overall pick,[12] taken in December 1957 whileLisle Blackbourn was still the head coach. His rookie contract was worth $9,500.[13] That draft for the Packers included future starsDan Currie (3rd),Ray Nitschke (36th), andJerry Kramer (39th), but the1958 team finished with the worst record in the league (and the franchise's worst ever, as of2023), under first-year NFL head coachRay "Scooter" McLean.[14] Taylor was used sparingly as a rookie, but in the penultimate game atKezar Stadium, he gained 137 yards on 22 carries in a 48–21 loss to theSan Francisco 49ers, and his running style brought cheers from the San Francisco fans.[15][16] With a one-year contract that was not to be renewed, McLean resigned days after the season and was replaced byVince Lombardi in January1959.[17]
When Lombardi took over, Taylor became the feature back for the Packers, especially in short yardage situations.[18] Taylor teamed with backfield mate, halfbackPaul Hornung, to form a tandem that Green Bay fans affectionately called "Thunder and Lightning", due to Taylor's power and Hornung's agility.[19] In1960, Taylor rushed for 1,101 yards on a league-high 230 carries and scored 11 touchdowns.[1] The Packers finished with an 8–4 record and met thePhiladelphia Eagles in the1960 NFL Championship Game. They were defeated 17–13, despite 24 carries for 105 yards and six catches for 46 yards from Taylor. Most notably, on the last play of the game, Taylor was tackled byChuck Bednarik at the nine yard line.[20] Following the season, Taylor was invited to his firstPro Bowl, where he tied a Pro Bowl record by scoring three touchdowns in theWestern Conference's 35–31 victory over the East.[21]
In the 1960s, Lombardi implemented the "Packers sweep" play in which guardsJerry Kramer andFuzzy Thurston rapidly pulled out from their normal positions and led blocking for Hornung and Taylor. It became an integral part of the Packers' offense throughout the decade.[22] In 1961, Taylor carried 243 times for 1,307 yards and led the league with 15 rushing touchdowns. For the second year in a row, his rushing yards total was second toJim Brown of theCleveland Browns. Taylor was selected as the second-team fullback behind Brown on theUnited Press International (UPI)All-Pro team,[23] and finished second in voting behind Brown for theAssociated Press (AP) team.[24] The Packers again reached the NFL title game, this time defeating theNew York Giants with a 37–0 shutout. Taylor had 69 yards on 14 attempts while playing despite badly damaged ribs, as Hornung carried most of the load for Green Bay.[25]
Taylor's most productive season was1962.[18] With Hornung missing most of the season due to injury, Taylor picked up the slack.[26] He set a league record by scoring 19 touchdowns and won the NFL rushing title with 1,474 yards, notable for being the only season in which Jim Brown did not lead the league during his nine-year career.[27] He became the third player in NFL history to lead the league in both rushing yards and total points scored, followingSteve Van Buren and Brown.[28] He was named the "Player of the Year" by the AP,[29] and was also awarded theJim Thorpe Trophy by theNewspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) as the NFL's players' choice for league MVP.[30] He earned first-team All-Pro honors from the AP, UPI, and NEA.[1]
Taylor's performance in Green Bay's 16–7 win over theGiants in the1962 NFL Championship Game came to define his mental and physical toughness.[31][18] In frigid conditions atYankee Stadium, Taylor carried 31 times for 85 yards and scored the Packers' only touchdown against what was considered the league's best defense, both statistically and by reputation.[32] Lombardi entrusted Taylor with the ball, as he was confident his fullback would be able to move the offense and not turn it over.[33] The game was highlighted by the fierce rivalry between Taylor and Giants linebackerSam Huff.[26] The two clashed on nearly every play and engaged intrash talk throughout the game.Steve Sabol, who filmed the game withhis father forNFL Films, described it as such:
The lasting image of that game in my mind is the ferocity and anger of Jim Taylor ... his barely restrained rage as he ran with the ball. Taylor just got the shit kicked out of him all day long ... There was all this trash-talking between him and especially Sam Huff ... Tons of profanity when they tackled him. I had never experienced anything like that.[26]
Taylor withstood a tremendous amount of punishment throughout the game.[34] At one point in the first quarter, he bit his tongue while being tackled by Huff, causing him to swallow blood for the rest of the game. He also required six stitches at halftime to close a gash on his elbow.[35] Some players wondered if he could even play in the second half. "Taylor isn't human," said Huff. "No human being could have taken the punishment he got today."[36][33][34] Taylor described the contest in the locker room after the game, saying, "I never took a worse beating on a football field. The Giants hit me hard, and then I hit the ground hard. I got it both ways. This was the toughest game I've ever played ... I just rammed it down their throats by letting my running do my talking. They couldn't rattle me ... I think Huff hit me with his elbow after a tackle. Anyway, I cut my tongue of all things."[26] Additionally, Taylor was playing while sick; two weeks later, he learned he hadhepatitis,[33][36] which contributed to his 15-pound weight loss prior to the game.[26]
The animosity between Taylor and the Giants carried over into the 1963preseason, as the second quarter of an exhibition game between Green Bay and New York began with Taylor drawing apersonal foul penalty for roughing up Giants defensive endAndy Robustelli.[37] Taylor had a slow start to the1963 season as he recovered from numerous injuries and his bout of hepatitis,[38] but still managed another 1,000-yard season. He again eclipsed 1,000 yards in1964, becoming the first player to record five straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.[5] He also began to see more use as a receiver out of the backfield during his later career. His specialty in the passing game was catching shortswing passes from quarterbackBart Starr.[27] His most productive season as a receiver was 1964, as he caught 38 passes for a career-high 354 yards and three touchdowns.[1] That season also included an 84-yard touchdown run in a win over theDetroit Lions, the longest run of his career and the longest of any player in the NFL that year.[39] He made his final Pro Bowl appearance after the 1964 season and the last in a string of five straight. Despite the productivity from Taylor, the Packers missed the postseason in 1963 and 1964. They returned to the postseason in1965, where Taylor carried 50 times for 156 yards over two games. He gained 96 of those yards during the Packers' 23–12 win over theBrowns in the1965 NFL Championship Game, second to Hornung's 105.[40] Taylor was named the game's most outstanding player bySPORT magazine and received aChevrolet Corvette.[41]
During his ninth season in1966, Taylor did not sign a new one-year contract and instead played out his option; he made no secret that it was likely his last season with the Packers.[42][43][44] With the retirement ofJim Brown, he became the active leader in career rushing yards. He caught a career-high 41 passes that year but recorded the fewest rushing yards since his second season.[1] The Packers finished atop the Western Division with a 12–2 record and defeated theDallas Cowboys in the1966 NFL Championship Game for their fourth NFL title in six years.[45] In January 1967, Taylor and the Packers played in the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game, known retroactively asSuper Bowl I, inLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum. They easily defeated theKansas City Chiefs 35–10. Taylor was the top rusher of the game with 56 rushing yards and a touchdown on a Packer Sweep play, with his score being the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history.[46] "It was just good blocking on a weak-side sweep play," said Taylor of his touchdown run. "It's a cakewalk when you get the blocking. It was just like we had been doing the last five or six years."[47] The game was his final with the Packers.
In July 1967, Taylor left the Packers for the expansionNew Orleans Saints to play under head coachTom Fears, a Hall of Fame receiver and a former assistant coach for five seasons in Green Bay under Lombardi.[48] He was signed to four one-year contracts with the Saints, worth $68,000 for 1968 and $72,000 for each subsequent season. The Saints also signed Hornung, though he retired prior to the1967 season. Taylor recorded his lowest rushing statistics since his rookie season, but was still relatively productive as a receiver, catching 38 passes. Prior to the 1968 season, he was relegated tospecial teams duties, and as a result he refused to play in that week's exhibition game.[49] Taylor retired from pro football in September 1968, at the end of training camp.[50][51]
| Legend | |
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| APNFL MVP | |
| WonNFL championship | |
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Y/G | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |||
| 1958 | GB | 12 | 52 | 247 | 4.8 | 25 | 1 | 20.6 | 4 | 72 | 18.0 | 31 | 1 |
| 1959 | GB | 9 | 120 | 452 | 3.8 | 21 | 6 | 50.2 | 9 | 71 | 7.9 | 20 | 2 |
| 1960 | GB | 12 | 230 | 1,101 | 4.8 | 32 | 11 | 91.8 | 15 | 121 | 8.1 | 27 | 0 |
| 1961 | GB | 14 | 243 | 1,307 | 5.4 | 53 | 15 | 93.4 | 25 | 175 | 7.0 | 18 | 1 |
| 1962 | GB | 14 | 272 | 1,474 | 5.4 | 51 | 19 | 105.3 | 22 | 106 | 4.8 | 25 | 0 |
| 1963 | GB | 13 | 248 | 1,018 | 4.1 | 40 | 9 | 78.3 | 13 | 68 | 5.2 | 27 | 1 |
| 1964 | GB | 13 | 235 | 1,169 | 5.0 | 84 | 12 | 89.9 | 38 | 354 | 9.3 | 35 | 3 |
| 1965 | GB | 14 | 207 | 734 | 3.5 | 35 | 4 | 52.4 | 20 | 207 | 10.4 | 41 | 0 |
| 1966 | GB | 14 | 204 | 705 | 3.5 | 19 | 4 | 50.4 | 41 | 331 | 8.1 | 21 | 2 |
| 1967 | NO | 14 | 130 | 390 | 3.0 | 16 | 2 | 27.9 | 38 | 251 | 6.6 | 27 | 0 |
| Career | 129 | 1,941 | 8,597 | 4.4 | 84 | 83 | 66.6 | 225 | 1,756 | 7.8 | 41 | 10 | |
Although not exceptional in size at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 215 lb (98 kg), Taylor was a physical fullback.[52] He sought contact on every play, accordant with his philosophy: "Football is a contact sport. You've got to make them respect you. You've got to punish tacklers. You've got to deal out more misery than the tacklers deal out to you."[53] He was widely acknowledged by his peers as one of the toughest and meanest players in the NFL.[54][55] Former quarterbackBobby Layne listed him as one of "Pro Football's 11 Meanest Men" in an article forSPORT magazine in 1964.[54] Packers linebackerRay Nitschke said, "In 15 years with the pros, he's one of the toughest men I ever played against—and we were on the same team. He'd hurt you when you tackled him."[55] He was difficult to tackle, as he fought for every extra yard. Giants linebacker Sam Huff proposed a rule change specifically in Taylor's case; per NFL rules, piling-on after a play invokes anunnecessary roughness penalty, but Huff argued, "You gotta pile on him a little to keep him down."[53]
Despite the punishment his body took throughout his career, Taylor remained relatively injury-free compared to other power running backs.[56][31] He remained in good health even in his later years, which he credited to his conditioning routine. He was often sighted at LSU baseball team practices, as well as at events involving all LSU teams.[13]
Taylor's high-profile verbal and physical clashes with Huff were well-noted.[53][57] "He was always hooting his mouth off on the field," Huff said of Taylor. "He'd tell me, 'Yeah, you're just a big talker.' He brought the best out in you. He was an unusual player, a great player, but an agitator ... I did everything I could to that sonofabitch."[26] The 1962 championship game between the Packers and Giants featured hard hitting and skirmishes throughout by both players, after which Taylor acknowledged there were "some hard feelings" between the two.[57] Boxing promoter Al Flora, after watching the game on television, offered Taylor and Huff $2,000 for a four-round boxing match to be held inBaltimore on January 28, 1963.[55] His offer was turned down, however.[58]
Taylor's career coincided with that of Jim Brown, who shattered several rushing records over the course of his nine-year career with theCleveland Browns. The only season in which Brown did not win therushing title was 1962, when he finished fourth in rushing yards as Taylor finished first.[36] Taylor was a four-time runner-up to Brown for the rushing title (1960, 1961, 1963, 1964), and when he retired was the second-leading rusher in NFL history behind Brown. Because of this, and to his dismay, Taylor was often considered the league's second-best running back. He used this as motivation throughout his career.[36] The Packers and Browns met three times in that span, all Green Bay victories, primarily due to Taylor's efforts. The last of those meetings was the1965 NFL Championship Game, which turned out to be Brown's last game.[56][55]
The first meeting between Taylor and Brown was a week-five game in1961. In that 49–17 win at Cleveland on October 15, Taylor outmatched Brown's 16 carries for 72 yards as he rushed 21 times for 158 yards and fourtouchdowns.[59][60][61]"I wouldn't say Taylor was better than Jim Brown, but he beat him head to head," said Packers historian Cliff Christl. "That's the type of player he was. It was a motivating factor for him."[56]
Taylor finished his ten-year playing career with 8,597 yards and 83 rushing touchdowns, highlighted by his five straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 1960 to 1964. He was the first running back in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards for five consecutive seasons. Taylor also caught 225 passes for 1,756 yards and 10 touchdowns, andreturned sevenkickoffs for 185 yards, giving him a total of 10,539 net yards and 93 touchdowns. He holds many Packers records, including both career and single-season touchdowns. His 8,207 rushing yards with the Packers remained a franchise record untilAhman Green surpassed it on November 8,2009.[62] His single-season yardage mark of 1,474 in 1962 was not surpassed by a Packer until Green ran for 1,883 yards in2003—a 16-game season, as opposed to the 14-game 1962 season. At retirement, Taylor's 83 career rushing touchdowns placed him behind only Brown.
DuringJohn W. Mecom Jr.'s ownership of the Saints, the number 31 was retired for Taylor. However, the number was unretired in 2001.[63]
Taylor was inducted into theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1975.[64] The following year, he was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame. He was the first Packers player from the Lombardi era to be inducted. Marie Lombardi, Vince's widow, was chosen as Taylor's presenter.[56] In 2014,The Times-Picayune ranked Taylor 23rd on its list of Louisiana's all-time greatest athletes.[5] He was elected to theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1974 and theWisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.[65] The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee named Taylor to itsNFL 1960s All-Decade Team, which comprised the best players of the 1960s at each position.[66]
Taylor became a successful businessman after his football career.[55] He was commissioner of theUnited States Rugby League in 1978 and attempted to start a 12-team competition.[67] He also maintained his physical condition well after his playing days; he participated in theSuperstars competition in 1977[68][69] and finished fourth in 1979.[70] In 1982, Taylor did play-by-play withPaul Hornung for TigerVision, LSU's pay-per-view broadcasts.[71] In 2000, aged 65, he was jogging five to six miles daily to stay in shape. Taylor was diagnosed withhepatitis C in 1989, but it was found to be dormant by 2000.[31] Taylor died on October 13, 2018, at the age of 83, at a hospital, in Baton Rouge; no cause was given.[72][73][74] TheTigers honored Taylor with a moment of silence before their 36–16 victory overGeorgia atTiger Stadium.[75]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)At 215 pounds, Jim Taylor is not pro football's biggest fullback but he could be its toughest.
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