Steven Jay Tasker (born April 10, 1962) is an American
sports reporter
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
, locally in Western New York on the
MSG Western New York
MSG Western New York (MSG WNY) is an American regional sports network that is a joint venture between MSG Entertainment and Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The channel (also on occasion credited as ''Pegula Sports Network'' or ''MSG Buffalo'') i ...
cable TV station, and on
WGR
WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—utilized by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Ham ...
Radio and formerly for
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
. He is a former
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player who was a
wide receiver and
gunner in 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 ...
(NFL). He was
drafted in the
ninth round (226th overall) of the
1985 NFL Draft
The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also hel ...
by 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 as ...
. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at
Northwestern. He began his college career at
Dodge City Community College
Dodge City Community College (DC3, DCCC) is a public community college in Dodge City, Kansas, United States.
History
Campus
Founded in 1935, Dodge City Community College was located on the third floor of the Senior High School Building at 1601 ...
. Tasker played most of his pro career with the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
, and was voted by Bills fans to the team's
50th season All-time Team. In 2008, the
NFL Network
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...
show ''
NFL Top 10
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 major ...
'' ranked Tasker the ninth best former player not enshrined in 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, coach ...
. He has several times been a nominee for the Hall, making the semi-finalist list eight times; he has not been inducted as a member as of 2021.
College career
Tasker first attended
Dodge City Community College
Dodge City Community College (DC3, DCCC) is a public community college in Dodge City, Kansas, United States.
History
Campus
Founded in 1935, Dodge City Community College was located on the third floor of the Senior High School Building at 1601 ...
. After two years, he transferred to
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
where he played the final two years of his college career before joining 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 ...
. Tasker finished his college career with 1,055 combined return yards from punts and kickoffs, averaging 10.8 yards per punt return. After finishing his
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
career, and before being drafted into the NFL, he joined the school's rugby team. Although he had never played rugby before, he was named most valuable player at the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Tasker continues to hold the
Northwestern Wildcats football
The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing fo ...
career record for
kickoff return
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to ''return' ...
average (24.3).
Professional football career
Tasker was selected in the ninth round (226th overall) of the
1985 NFL Draft
The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also hel ...
by the Houston Oilers where he played for two seasons. He was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills on November 8, 1986.
Tasker was listed as a wide receiver, however, most of his playing time came as a
gunner, on
punts and
kickoffs. After he joined the Buffalo Bills, he began to play at wide receiver more than with the Oilers. While he performed very well as a receiver when Buffalo needed his services there, the combination of excellent Bills depth at that position, his value as a special teams playmaker, and Tasker refusing to demand more playing time on offense kept his WR time very slight.
Still, Tasker did make contributions at the more traditional role on offense and special teams. In a 1994 playoff game against the
Los Angeles Raiders
The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
, he set up the Bills first touchdown with a 67-yard kickoff return. He also caught 5 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown in Buffalo's 1995 playoff win against the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
.
Play as gunner
Tasker stood tall and weighed ; when he joined the Bills,
Jim Haslett
James Donald Haslett (born December 9, 1955) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He played college football for the IUP Crimson Hawks before being drafted by the Bu ...
did not think that he was a player. Tasker recalled, "I told him not to worry because I was mistaken for a ball boy all the time".
Despite his small size, he gained a reputation as one of the league's most feared hitters, forcing numerous
fumble
A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...
s. Contributing to his success in breaking up kick and punt returns was his speed; he was almost always the first player to reach the return man. He was the first player to establish himself as a star almost exclusively through
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
play without being either a
kicker
Kicker or The Kicker may refer to:
Sports
* Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football
* ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany
* Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player
* Kicker, the word used i ...
or a returner. Tasker played in seven
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
s (
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
and
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
–
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
) and became the only special teamer ever to be named the game's
MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
.
* 204 special teams tackles
* 7 Blocked Punts
* 7-time Pro Bowl selection
* Only special Teams player ever elected Pro Bowl MVP
* Was voted one of 26 players by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the year 2000 as "The Best of the Best ALL TIME Players in the History of the Game"
Many, including former teammate and
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United State ...
, consider him to be the greatest
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
player of all-time and believe that he should be in the Hall of Fame. He was ranked No. 9 on the
NFL Network
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...
's ''
NFL Top 10
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 major ...
'' Players Not in the Hall of Fame.
Sportscasting career
Tasker was a
color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...
for
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
football telecasts with Andrew Catalon (play-by-play) and
Steve Beuerlein
Stephen Taylor Beuerlein (born March 7, 1965) is a former American football quarterback, and is currently an NFL and college football analyst for CBS.
High school career
In his senior year, Beuerlein led Anaheim's Servite High School to the ...
(the other color commentator) starting in 2014. CBS did not renew his contract at the end of the 2018 season. He also does color commentary for the local broadcasts of
Bills pre-season games, teaming with either his former broadcast partner
Andrew Catalon
Andrew Catalon (born September 7, 1979) is an American sportscaster. He has announced NFL on CBS, PGA Tour on CBS, College Basketball on CBS, NBA on CBS and NCAA March Madness. He has done play-by-play alongside James Lofton on National Football L ...
or
Rob Stone. He is also the spokesperson for the West Herr Auto Group. Tasker was on the sidelines with
Jim Nantz
James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has anchor ...
and
Phil Simms
Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...
during the playoffs until 2013. He also worked with
Don Criqui
Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster.
He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967-2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on De ...
(Criqui, himself a Buffalo native, and Tasker were assigned to the majority of Bills games from 1999 to 2005) and was best known working with
Gus Johnson in 1998, week 13 in 1999, week 5 in 2004, and from 2005 to 2010. Johnson left for
FOX Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
the following year. He and Johnson called the
David Garrard
David Douglas Garrard (born February 14, 1978) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at East Carolina and wa ...
game winning Hail Mary touchdown pass for the
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
' win over the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
in 2010. CBS dismissed Tasker prior to the 2019 season as they chose not to renew his contract.
On September 9, 2007, Tasker became the 24th person inducted to the Bills'
Wall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
.
On November 22, 2011, Tasker was named one of the semifinalists in balloting for 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, coach ...
in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...
.
On September 28, 2013, his son,
Luke Tasker
Lucas Steele Tasker (born January 18, 1991) is a former Canadian football wide receiver and sports broadcaster. He spent the entirety of his seven-season Canadian Football League career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Tasker played college football ...
, made his
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
debut with the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
, in a home game against the
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...
. Luke Tasker also became a broadcaster during and after his playing career, becoming the Tiger-Cats' color commentator.
In April 2018, Tasker became co-host of ''One Bills Live'', a daily weekday radio show focusing on the Buffalo Bills alongside
Chris Brown
Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...
on
WGR
WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—utilized by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Ham ...
and
MSG Western New York
MSG Western New York (MSG WNY) is an American regional sports network that is a joint venture between MSG Entertainment and Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The channel (also on occasion credited as ''Pegula Sports Network'' or ''MSG Buffalo'') i ...
. He served as the color commentator and analyst for the
Buffalo Bills Radio Network
The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is a broadcast radio network based in Buffalo, New York. Its primary programming is broadcasts of Buffalo Bills home and away games to a network of 24 stations in upstate New York, the Northwestern and Northern Ti ...
in 2020 alongside
John Murphy after
Eric Wood
Eric Wood (born March 18, 1986) is a former American football center. He played college football at the University of Louisville and was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft (28th overall) by the Buffalo Bills of the National Footba ...
opted out of the season due to traveling difficulties associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Personal life
Steve is married to his wife Sarah. They have five children, including
Luke Tasker
Lucas Steele Tasker (born January 18, 1991) is a former Canadian football wide receiver and sports broadcaster. He spent the entirety of his seven-season Canadian Football League career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Tasker played college football ...
, and they reside in East Aurora, New York.
References
External links
*
Buffalo Bills biography of Steve Tasker (archived from 1997)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasker, Steve
1962 births
Living people
American football wide receivers
Buffalo Bills announcers
Buffalo Bills players
Dodge City Conquistadors football players
Houston Oilers players
National Football League announcers
Northwestern Wildcats football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
Rugby union players that played in the NFL
People from Smith Center, Kansas
People from Wichita County, Kansas
Players of American football from Kansas
Ed Block Courage Award recipients