{"id":5959,"date":"2018-10-14T15:50:23","date_gmt":"2018-10-14T20:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5959"},"modified":"2018-10-14T15:52:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-14T20:52:39","slug":"the-greatest-fullback-jim-taylor-dies-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5959","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Fullback- Jim Taylor Dies at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jim Taylor: Photo source: https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Hall-of-Fame fullback Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers passed away yesterday at age 83.\u00a0 Taylor died unexpectedly Saturday\u00a0at a Baton Rouge, La., hospital, the Packers said.\u00a0\u00a0 What Ray Nitschke was to the\u00a0defense of the Packers was what\u00a0Jim\u00a0Taylor\u00a0was to their offense.\u00a0 Their soul.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Powerful with\u00a0toughness\u00a0and\u00a0a drive to demolish the opponent when confronted with physicality summed up\u00a0Taylor.\u00a0\u00a0He was my favorite player\u00a0on Green Bay in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.\u00a0 His career spanned from ’56 to ’66 and was the all-time leading rusher when he departed the team after his nine year career.\u00a0 That record lasted for generations.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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The fact of the matter is that Taylor is considered as the greatest fullback in NFL history\u00a0and his running the ball did not take a back seat to the thunderous blocks he delivered to opponents. No\u00a0running back\u00a0was as\u00a0devastating as Taylor in making\u00a0crushing blocks in the league, yesterday and today.\u00a0 Taylor was without peer in his play.<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n

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\u201cThe Green Bay Packers family was saddened to learn of Jim Taylor\u2019s passing this morning,\u201d Packers President\/CEO Mark Murphy said in a statement. \u201cHe was a gritty, classic player on the Lombardi teams and a key figure of those great championship runs. One of the best runners of his era, he later was greatly appreciated by multiple generations of Packers fans during his many returns to Lambeau Field with his fellow alumni. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife, Helen, and their family and friends.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 (Michael Cohen, Special to PackersNews)<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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If you read my\u00a0“back-in-time” \u00a0blog articles, many will know that the St. Louis football Cardinals was\u00a0my team\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>growing up in Oklahoma City in the 1950-1960’s era of the NFL\u00a0 Yet, the running backs of my youth that I followed intensely week to week were Gayle Sayers of the Bears, Lenny Moore of the Colts, Cookie Gilchrist of the Bills (AFL), and Jim Brown (the greatest football player of all-time) of the Browns.\u00a0 Included in that small group was\u00a0Jim Taylor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Taylor\u00a0had the qualities of each of the afore mentioned HOF players.\u00a0\u00a0Not as fast or as elusive as Sayers or Brown, Taylor was as tough as any.\u00a0 Getting him\u00a0tackled on runs, he was as effective as any, including Sayers or Brown.\u00a0 Taylor\u00a0would use his power to run and punish you as a ball carrier.\u00a0He would and could hurt you on every play, running with the ball or blocking for Paul Horning or pass protecting for Bart Starr. Taylor did not want to avoid contact, he initiated it.\u00a0He dished\u00a0the pain\u00a0out and suffered from it too.\u00a0 Looking at Taylor in a game you saw the blood,\u00a0the\u00a0cuts, the abuse he got and\u00a0gave.\u00a0 He was fun to watch as much as I enjoyed\u00a0Sayers to dance and slice and Jim Brown\u00a0as he used his\u00a0powerful body to\u00a0outran or through those that tried to stop him.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Taylor had the greatness of Sayers and Brown, of Gilchrist and Moore.\u00a0 He\u00a0would get that\u00a0one or two tough yards in a tight must\u00a0situation.\u00a0\u00a0Bart Starr would\u00a0use his fullback, Mr.\u00a0Taylor, \u00a0and never contemplated he would not get that\u00a0first down,\u00a0behind a Jerry Kramer led offensive line. It was above reproach.\u00a0 Green Bay was not to be denied.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Packer coach Vince Lombardi, on comparing Taylor and Jim Brown.\u00a0 “Jim Brown will give you that leg and then take it away from you. Jim Taylor will give it to you and then ram it through your chest!\u201d<\/span><\/h6>\n

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In his own words Taylor summed it up.\u00a0 “You got to enjoy punishment because you are going to deliver so much of it, and you are going to get so much of it..\u2026 If you are prepared you don\u2019t really feel the punishment during the game.\u201d<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Taylor was as much the NFL of his time as any player, offense or defense.\u00a0 Today’s league is not like the league of the past.\u00a0 The toughness of the player as demonstrated by Jim Taylor, is just not on stage today by very many current players. For every JJ Watt of the game today, there were ten Jim Taylors.<\/span><\/h6>\n
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For those that did not have the honor to watch professional football in Taylor’s day, you missed football at it’s finest.\u00a0 <\/span><\/h6>\n
Today’s game does not compare.<\/span><\/h6>\n

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Jim Taylor at a glance<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

Born:<\/strong> Sept. 20, 1935, in Baton Rouge, La.<\/span><\/p>\n

School:<\/strong> Louisiana State University, where he was an All-American in 1957. Taylor played two years of college football (1956 and \u201957). He rushed for 762 yards and 12 touchdowns in 1957 and finished his career with 1,314 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. Taylor was drafted by the Packers with the 15th pick in the second round in 1958.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hall of Fame:<\/strong> Packers Hall of Fame, Class of 1975; Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1976.<\/span><\/p>\n

Packers playing career: <\/strong>Taylor rushed for 1,000 yards in five consecutive seasons. He led the league with 15 touchdowns in 1961. His best season, 1962, consisted of 1,474 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns and league MVP honors. He won four championships with the Packers: 1961, \u201862, \u201965 and \u201866. Taylor finished his Packers career with 26 100-yard games and 8,207 rushing yards. He scored 93 total touchdowns (83 rushing, 10 receiving).<\/span><\/p>\n

Post playing career: <\/strong>Taylor finished his career by playing one season with the New Orleans Saints in 1967. He rushed for 390 yards and scored two touchdowns. Taylor was known for staying in tremendous shape post-football. He ran marathons well into his 50s and competed in multiple editions of the Superstars competition that pitted some of the world\u2019s best athletes against each other in various sporting events. Taylor also was president of the United States Rugby League, which announced plans for a 12-team league in 1968. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1989 but the condition eventually went dormant. Taylor resided in his hometown of Baton Rouge.\u00a0 (source:\u00a0 Packersnews-USA Today)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Feature Photo:\u00a0 <\/span>Green Bay Packers Jim Taylor runs with a Bart Starr pass as Dallas Cowboys Mel Renfro (20) leaps high in air too late to break up the pass during the NFL Championship game, Jan. 1, 1967 in Dallas, Tx. At left is Cowboys Chuck Howley (54). The Packers<\/span> defeated the Cowboys 34-27. <\/span><\/span> AP<\/span><\/p>\n

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      Hall-of-Fame fullback Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers passed away yesterday…<\/p>\n

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