John Taylor (American football player)
Encyclopedia
John Gregory Taylor is a former American football
wide receiver
with the San Francisco 49ers
. Taylor attended Pennsauken High School
and was one of six NFL players to come from PHS during the 1980s. Taylor attended Delaware State College and was a member of their football team, the Hornets. He was a member of the 49ers teams that won Super Bowl
s XXIII
, XXIV
, and XXIX
.
eclipsed it recently with 26.4. One player has since slightly eclipsed his record in career receiving yardage (Albert Horsey with 2,491 to Taylor's 2,426), but he remains the most dominant and famous player to ever come out of the MEAC. He was named MEAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1985 and All-MEAC first team in 1984 and 1985.
teammate Jerry Rice
during that time. He led the National Football League
in punt
return yards (556) in 1988, and he may be best known for catching the winning 10-yard touchdown
pass from Joe Montana
during the final seconds of Super Bowl XXIII
in 1989. He also set Super Bowl records in the game for longest punt return (45 yards), most punt return yards (56), and highest punt return average (18.7 yards per return).
By the conclusion of the 1988 season, which ended with his famous touchdown catch in the Super Bowl, Taylor had caught just 23 passes in his two years with the 49ers and was mainly used as punt and kick returner
. But in the season after his Super Bowl winning touchdown reception, Taylor established himself as one of the top receivers in the NFL. Despite not being the #1 receiver on his team, Taylor finished the 1989 season with 60 receptions for 1,077 yards and ten touchdowns (the fourth most touchdown receptions by a player in the NFL that year). In a Monday night game against the Los Angeles Rams
, Taylor scored touchdowns on two receptions of over 90 yards (92 and 96), an NFL first. He also set a record for most receiving yards in back-to-back games with a total of 448, a record he held until November 2006 when Chad Johnson (now Chad Ocho Cinco) of the Cincinnati Bengals
broke it with 450 receiving yards. He broke the 1,000 receiving yard milestone again in the 1991 season with 64 receptions for 1,011 yards and nine touchdowns (ranking him seventh in the NFL). In his nine NFL seasons, Taylor recorded 347 receptions for 5,589 yards (an average of 16.1 yards per catch) and 43 touchdowns. He also gained 1,517 yards and two touchdowns returning punts, and added another 276 yards returning kickoffs. He was selected to play in the NFL Pro Bowl twice, in 1988 and 1989. He also won three super bowl rings in his career with the 49ers, in 1988, 1989, and 1994. His combined total of 94 punt return yards in those three games are the most by any player in Super Bowl history, and his average of 15.7 yards per return is also the highest.
.
He currently lives in Clovis, California
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
with the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. Taylor attended Pennsauken High School
Pennsauken High School
Pennsauken High School is a four-year comprehensive regional public high school that serves students Pennsauken Township, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Pennsauken Public Schools....
and was one of six NFL players to come from PHS during the 1980s. Taylor attended Delaware State College and was a member of their football team, the Hornets. He was a member of the 49ers teams that won Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
, XXIV
Super Bowl XXIV
Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game played on January 28, 1990 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1989 regular season...
, and XXIX
Super Bowl XXIX
Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game played on January 29, 1995 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1994 regular season...
.
College career
Taylor totaled 42 touchdowns (33 receiving) over the course of his career at Delaware State, including 15 (13 receiving) his senior season (in only 10 games—they only played 10 games/season during that time period), both conference records. He caught 10 touchdown passes in both his sophomore and junior seasons. He is tied with kicker David Parkinson for most career points (254) in the conference. His 223 receiving yards in one game is also a conference record, and he has the two longest receptions in conference history, 97 and 93 yards. His 24.3 yards/catch average was the NCAA record until Jerome MathisJerome Mathis
Jerome Alvon Mathis is a professional American and Canadian football wide receiver and kick returner who currently is a free agent. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football for Hampton.Mathis has also been a member of the Washington...
eclipsed it recently with 26.4. One player has since slightly eclipsed his record in career receiving yardage (Albert Horsey with 2,491 to Taylor's 2,426), but he remains the most dominant and famous player to ever come out of the MEAC. He was named MEAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1985 and All-MEAC first team in 1984 and 1985.
NFL career
Taylor was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 1986 NFL draft with the 76th overall pick. This was ranked by ESPN as the 25th Greatest NFL Draft Steal of all time. Taylor played for the 49ers from 1987 to 1995 and was an exceptional counterpart to Hall of FamePro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
teammate Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...
during that time. He led the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
in punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
return yards (556) in 1988, and he may be best known for catching the winning 10-yard touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
pass from Joe Montana
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...
during the final seconds of Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
in 1989. He also set Super Bowl records in the game for longest punt return (45 yards), most punt return yards (56), and highest punt return average (18.7 yards per return).
By the conclusion of the 1988 season, which ended with his famous touchdown catch in the Super Bowl, Taylor had caught just 23 passes in his two years with the 49ers and was mainly used as punt and kick returner
Kick returner
In American and Canadian football, a kick returner is the player on special teams who is primarily responsible to catch kickoffs and attempts to return them in the opposite direction. If the ball is kicked into his own endzone, he must assess the situation on the field while the ball is in the...
. But in the season after his Super Bowl winning touchdown reception, Taylor established himself as one of the top receivers in the NFL. Despite not being the #1 receiver on his team, Taylor finished the 1989 season with 60 receptions for 1,077 yards and ten touchdowns (the fourth most touchdown receptions by a player in the NFL that year). In a Monday night game against the Los Angeles Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
, Taylor scored touchdowns on two receptions of over 90 yards (92 and 96), an NFL first. He also set a record for most receiving yards in back-to-back games with a total of 448, a record he held until November 2006 when Chad Johnson (now Chad Ocho Cinco) of the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
broke it with 450 receiving yards. He broke the 1,000 receiving yard milestone again in the 1991 season with 64 receptions for 1,011 yards and nine touchdowns (ranking him seventh in the NFL). In his nine NFL seasons, Taylor recorded 347 receptions for 5,589 yards (an average of 16.1 yards per catch) and 43 touchdowns. He also gained 1,517 yards and two touchdowns returning punts, and added another 276 yards returning kickoffs. He was selected to play in the NFL Pro Bowl twice, in 1988 and 1989. He also won three super bowl rings in his career with the 49ers, in 1988, 1989, and 1994. His combined total of 94 punt return yards in those three games are the most by any player in Super Bowl history, and his average of 15.7 yards per return is also the highest.
Controversy
In 1988, Taylor was suspended for the first four games of the NFL season for substance abuse. This marked a turning point in Taylor's career as he became very upset over the media scrutiny he received. To this day, he admits having used cocaine the first time he tested positive, but insists that the second positive test was a mistake.Playing style
John Taylor might be best remembered for his incredible ability after the catch, but it was his ability to catch the football that allowed him to do the miraculous things he did. His immense hands were measured 11.2 inches in length at the 1986 combine, still a record for any receiver to ever come into the league. He had an uncanny ability to relax on the football field and effortlessly catch the football and run all in one fluid motion, also referred to by some scouts as "running through the ball." He was also a spectacular punt returner, had perhaps the strongest arm on the team, and was an excellent bowler, as well as an outstanding baseball and basketball player. Known by most of his teammates as the 49ers' finest athlete during their dynasty, the only thing he didn't have was blinding 4.3 speed. The 6'1" 195-pound wide receiver was graded out as the 2nd highest-rated wide receiver in the nation before he turned in a disappointing 4.67 40-yard-dash time at the combine.After retiring as a player
Taylor used to own a trucking company but still drives a truck and leads a pretty quiet life off the field. His only moments in any sort of spotlight come when he's participating in celebrity golf events, such as ones sponsored by his alma mater, Delaware State. In 2005, he was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of FameDelaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame
The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S...
.
He currently lives in Clovis, California
Clovis, California
Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States, northeast of Fresno. The population is estimated to be 97,218 as of September, 2011. Clovis is located northeast of downtown Fresno, at an elevation of 361 feet .-History:...
.