Kansas City Chiefs Michael Travis Rose

Nobody Wanted To Play Against Him: Remembering Chiefs Great Otis Taylor

MIchael Rose February 26, 2020 No Comments Gallery

 

Nobody Wanted To Play Against Him: Remembering Chiefs Great Otis Taylor – before Tyreek Hill, before Sammy Watkins, before Demarcus Robinson, before Mecole Hardman, or Dwayne Bowe or Carlos Carson… there was Otis Taylor, #89. Taylor, the imposing 6-foot-3, 215 wide receiver out of Prairie View A&M University was not only fleet-footed and sure-handed, he was a devastating downfield blocker, plowing a clear path of defenders for many Chiefs running backs over his career. That was back in the days when he was the Chiefs #1 flanker and Len Dawson’s #1 target.

 

 

Taylor was selected by both the NFL Philadelphia Eagles in the 1965 NFL draft and by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1965 AFL draft. Taylor was all set to sign with the Eagles before he escaped from his NFL scouts charged with “babysitting” duties and was signed by none other than legendary Chiefs scout Lloyd Wells.

 

Taylor made an immediate impact on the fledgling American Football League in his rookie year, nabbing five touchdown passes, only to follow that up his second year, 1966, leading the AFL with a 22.4 yards/catch average and finishing second in receiving yards at 1,297. His vote for First-team All-AFL and AFL All-Star team that year was a no-brainer.

 

 

In 1967, Taylor led the AFL in receiving touchdowns in with 11. After the merger of the AFL and NFL, Taylor led the NFL with 1,110 yards in 1971. There are two moments in Taylor’s career that best display and define the man, the player, the absolute baller he was.

 

 

The first is Super Bowl IV, against the Minnesota Vikings (12-2) dubbed by some NFL pundits at the time as, “The greatest team in pro football history.”

 

Apparently, someone forgot to tell Taylor.

 

It was the third quarter; the Chiefs were up 16-7 and sniffing victory. The Chiefs QB, Lenny Dawson, bullets a short pass to Taylor at the Minnesota 41-yard line, Taylor breaks a tackle — nice try, Earsell Mackbee — zooms down the sideline, stiff-arms Vikings Safety Karl Kassulke and scores the clinching touchdown on a 46-yard dash. Final score, Chiefs – 23, Vikings – 7.

 

 

In later years, talking about his sure-armed receiver, Dawson quipped, “Otis made my job easy. If you got the pass to Otis, you knew he’d catch it.”

 

His other career defining moment would be what’s become known as the, “Ben Davidson Incident.” On November 1, 1970, leading the Oakland Raiders, 17–14, late in the fourth quarter, a long run by Dawson for a first-down appeared to seal the victory for the Chiefs in the final minute of the game.  However, as Dawson, long since tackled, lay on the ground, Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson speared the Chiefs QB in the back with his helmet. Otis Taylor was not having it and he came at Davidson with a down-home, old-fashioned haymaker, the likes of which has not been seen in the NFL since. Chaos ensued.

 

 

After the bench-clearing brawl, the refs called offsetting penalties which nullified the first down under the rules currently in effect. The Chiefs had to punt. The Raiders tied the game on a George Blanda field goal with eight seconds left. That hit on Dawson not only cost the Chiefs the game, but Oakland would go on to win the AFC West with a season record of 8–4–2. The Chiefs, on the other hand, finished 7–5–2 and missed the playoffs that season.

 

They changed the rule the next season. Offsetting personal foul penalties were changed to separate penalties during the play, and after the play. The “Ben Davidson” incident was the catalyst for this change. Teammates and opponents alike recognized the greatness of Otis Taylor.

 

 

Recent HOF-inductee, former Chiefs Safety Johnny Robinson, said this of Taylor, “Probably the most feared guy in our league.”

 

Having faced Taylor on numerous occasions, former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback and eight-time Pro-Bowler and a beast in the defensive secondary throughout the 1970s, Lemar Parrish opined,

 

“Being one of the best cornerbacks to play the game and I never wanted to play against Otis. Because I was nervous that that was someone that could beat me anytime. And even if I was on my A game, there was always that possibility of him beating anybody.”

 

Parrish goes on,

 

“The defensive backs would’ve had to double him to do something, and that’s (often) what they did do. You never knew what opposing teams were doing, but I guarantee you, they were afraid of Otis. Even in his last days, he was fearsome — nobody wanted to play against him. He was big and strong, he was agile, mobile. Plus, he was a student of the game. He knew how to set you up.”

 

 

Parrish played for the Bengals from 1970 to 1977. He handled defensive backfield duties for the Washington Redskins from 1978 to 1982, and would retire as a Buffalo Bill at the end of the 1982 NFL season.

 

Otis Taylor’s resume is textbook for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.

    • 2× Pro Bowl (1971, 1972)
    • 2× First-team All-Pro (1971, 1972)
    • NFL receiving yards leader (1971)
    • Super Bowl champion (IV)
    • 2× AFL champion (1966, 1969)
    • AFL All-Star (1966)
    • First-team All-AFL (1966)
    • Second-team All-AFL (1967)
    • AFL receiving touchdowns leader (1967)
    • Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame

 

Unfortunately, because today’s wideouts put up higher numbers in a pass-happy, wild-wild-West NFL, Taylors numbers seem pedestrian in comparison.  Statistics are misleading, and our standout flanker is overlooked and, sadly, dismissed. Taylor ranks second on the Chiefs all-time list in receptions (410), receiving yards (7,306), receiving touchdowns (57) and 100-yard games (20).  He was a game-changer whenever his cleats graced the gridiron.

 

 

Says Parrish of his former nemesis, “If Otis Taylor were playing today, he definitely would have 100-some catches every year.”

 

I find it unconscionable that, with a resume such as his, Taylor is not in the Hall of Fame. I believe it’s part of a long term pattern stemming from an upstaged NFL starting in the early 1970s of a bias against the AFL. Still salty about being outshined by a more electric, diverse league co-founded by our own Lamar Hunt, the NFL has long denied entry many HOF-worthy AFL players induction:  Taylor being just one of the many. I plan to pen an article on this same subject sometime this offseason, but must first eliminate the expletives and the contumely tone of the article.

 

Although I could compare Taylor’s stats with wide receivers in the Hall-of-Fame and make a case for #89’s induction, I won’t. It diminishes the reputation of the HOFer there, and is just plain bush league. Everyone in the Hall of Fame deserves to be there. So does Otis Taylor… like… yesterday.

 

 

Besides, my call for his induction pales compared to that of Lemar Parrish: the man whom Taylor torched more than once during his incredible career. Parrish states: “I tell you, the man was good… and no Taylor in the Hall of Fame, it’s a disgrace.”

 

Author’s Note:  I realize Otis Taylor is in ill-health. Taylor suffers from Parkinson’s Disease and dementia, initially diagnosed in 1990. Taylor is currently involved in a lawsuit against the NFL. The lawsuit states. “He is currently bedridden, cannot verbally communicate, is unable to walk, and relies on a feeding tube for all his sustenance.”

 

I omitted this in the body of my article not out of lack of compassion or any disrespect, but rather to respect, acknowledge, and remember the man and player he was in his prime, first and foremost. He gave his all and left it all on the field. My prayers are with him and his loved ones and also with the Hall of Fame voters in the hopes they might finally see fit to right a wrong that has festered far too long.

 

Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

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