Lionel Thomas Taylor (born August 15, 1935) is a former American football wide receiver who led the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) in receptions for five of the first six years of the league's existence.

College football

Taylor attended

New Mexico Highlands University New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) is a public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Founded in 1893, it has satellite campuses in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington and Roswell. NMHU has an average annual enrollment of approximate ...

, where he had starred in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

, earning all-conference wide receiver honors in 1956 and 1957.

Professional football

Taylor first played eight games as a linebacker with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

before moving to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the AFL for the 1960 season. With the Broncos, he switched positions and became a receiver. Third in all-time receptions (543) and receiving yards (6,872) for the Denver Broncos, Taylor was the Broncos' team MVP in 1963, 1964 and 1965, and an

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

in 1961, 1962 and 1965. An original Bronco, Taylor was part of the team's inaugural Ring of Fame class in 1984. Along with

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed “Bambi”, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) an ...

, Charlie Hennigan and

Sid Blanks Sidney Blanks (April 29, 1941 – December 12, 2021) was an American football player and the first-ever African American football player to play in the Lone Star Conference. College career A halfback, Blanks played college football at Texas A& ...

, he shares the record for most receptions in one game with 13, doing so against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

on November 29, 1964. Taylor was the first professional football receiver ever to make 100 catches in a single season, accomplishing the feat in only 14 games (1961). He had four seasons with over 1,000 yards receiving, and averaged 84.7 catches per year from 1960 to 1965, then the highest six-year total in professional football history. , his 102.9 yards per game in 1960 remains a Broncos franchise record. Taylor completed his career with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

in 1967 and 1968. In the time he played (1960-1968), the leading receiver in the AFL outmatched the leading receiver in the NFL each time except 1968. Taylor was the first receiver to have caught more than 90 passes in a single season, and he was also the first to do it twice. No receiver would lead the league in receptions over 90 in two separate seasons until Sterling Sharpe did so (1989, 1992, 1993). Taylor had a peak from 1960 to 1965 that resulted in 508 receptions for 6,424 yards and 43 touchdowns. In that same time, on the NFL side,

Bobby Mitchell Robert Cornelius Mitchell (June 6, 1935 – April 5, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell becam ...

had 338 catches for 5,571 yards and 43 touchdowns. Curiously, Mitchell finished with more touchdowns and yards than Taylor but had less receptions and yards per game and managed to be inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

, while Taylor has not. After his playing career, Taylor went into a long career as a coach. He was an assistant coach for two Super Bowl championship teams of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the 1970s and then the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

Head coaching record

College

References

External links