# Otis Taylor (American football)

Otis Taylor Jr. (August 11, 1942 – March 9, 2023) was an American professional football wide receiver who played in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Prairie View A&M Panthers and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 1965 AFL draft. He was also selected in the 15th round of the 1965 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he chose to play in the AFL for the Chiefs where he would spend his entire career.

## Early life and college

Taylor was born on August 11, 1942, in Houston to Lillian Lee and Otis Taylor Sr. He was raised by his mother and older sister, Florence (Odell). O'Dell would care for him in later life during a long period of illness and decline. Taylor attended Evan E. Worthing High School, where he was the football team's quarterback, played basketball, and ran track.
Taylor attended Prairie View A&M University on a basketball scholarship, but became a star receiver on its football team, which was runner up in the 1963 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) championship game. He originally was the team's quarterback until his sophomore year, when he was replaced by Jim Kearney, who would go on to play safety in the NFL and AFL as Taylor's teammate in Kansas City.
As a basketball player, he was inspired by NBA legend Elgin Baylor. The quickness and agility he developed as a basketball player made him a better football player. In college basketball, he once faced future NBA great Willis Reed (who attended Grambling State University), and played him even.
Taylor was inducted into Prairie View's Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1972, the school retired his number 17, a first in Prairie View's history. In 2016, he was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

## Professional career

Taylor was selected in the fourth round of the 1965 AFL draft (Chiefs) and the 15th round of the NFL draft, by the Philadelphia Eagles. After a famous "baby-sitting" incident, in which Taylor "escaped" from NFL scouts, he was signed for the Chiefs by their legendary scout Lloyd Wells.
He was the prototype for the big and skilled wide receivers to follow as dominant in professional football.
Taylor caught 26 passes his rookie year, five for touchdowns, averaging 17.2 yards per receptions. He followed that up in 1966 by leading the AFL with a 22.4 yd/catch average and finishing second in receiving yards (1,297), as well as having the longest pass reception (89 yards). At season's end, he was voted First-team All-AFL by the Associated Press (AP), Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and United Press International (UPI), and was selected for the 1966 AFL All-Star team.
In 1967, Taylor tied for the AFL league lead in receiving touchdowns with 11, tied for fourth in receptions (59), and was fourth in receiving yards (958). After the AFL-NFL merger, he led the NFL in receiving yards in 1971 with 1,110. He made the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl twice and in 1971 was named Consensus All-Pro by the AP, NEA, the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) and Pro Football Weekly. The PFWA also named him First-team All-Pro for the 1972 season, and the UPI named him First-team All-Conference. As of December 2024, Taylor ranks in the Chiefs' all-time list in receptions (6th, 410), receiving yards (3rd, 7,306), receiving touchdowns (3rd, 57), yards per catch (2nd, 17.6) and 100-yard games (20). He was also an excellent downfield blocker.
Taylor combined with running back Robert Holmes for what was at the time the longest reception in Chiefs history in 1969 when he caught a pass from quarterback Mike Livingston for 79 yards, then lateraled to Holmes, who carried it another 14 yards for a touchdown. However, Taylor's most memorable highlight from that season came in the fourth and final AFL-NFL World Championship Game on January 11, 1970, Super Bowl IV. After the Vikings scored for the first time and made it a 16–7 game, Taylor caught a quick pass from Len Dawson, escaped a tackle attempt by Earsell Mackbee, faked out Karl Kassulke, and ran down the sidelines for a 46-yard touchdown to close out the scoring with 82 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Chiefs won a 23–7 upset over the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings which, prior to Super Bowl IV, had been dubbed by some as "the greatest team in pro football history".
"Otis made my job easy," Chiefs quarterback and Hall of Famer Len Dawson said. "If you got the pass to Otis, you knew he'd catch it."
The Professional Football Researchers Association named Taylor to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006. He was inducted into the Chiefs Ring of Honor in 1982.

### Ben Davidson incident

On November 1, 1970, the Chiefs led the Oakland Raiders 17–14 late in the fourth quarter, and a long run for a first-down run by Dawson apparently sealed victory for the Chiefs in the final minute when Dawson, as he lay on the ground, was speared by Raiders' defensive end Ben Davidson, who dove into Dawson with his helmet, provoking Taylor to attack Davidson.
After a bench-clearing brawl, offsetting penalties were called, nullifying the first down under the rules in effect at that time. The Chiefs were obliged to punt, and the Raiders tied the game on a George Blanda field goal with eight seconds to play. Davidson's hit against Dawson not only cost the Chiefs a win, but helped Oakland win the AFC West with a season record of 8–4–2, while defending world champion Kansas City finished 7–5–2 and out of the playoffs. The very next season, the rule for offsetting personal foul penalties was changed to separate penalties during the play, and penalties after the play. The rule change was largely due to this play.

### Jack Del Rio incident

After his time as a player had come to a close, Taylor became a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs. During the 1987 NFL Player's strike, Taylor was arriving at Arrowhead Stadium and was assaulted by Jack Del Rio, who was a new player to the organization in 1987 and was striking with his teammates. Del Rio mistook Taylor for a replacement player and was told Taylor was actually a Chiefs legend and retired player by fans who had come upon the assault. He later pressed charges against Del Rio and the two settled out of court. Del Rio went on to coach in the NFL, including 12 years as a head coach.

## Personal life

Taylor and his wife of 35 years, Regina (Hill) Taylor, had a son, Otis Taylor III.
After retiring as a player, Taylor was a scout for 11 years with the Chiefs. He was upset when he was not considered for an assistant coaching job with the Chiefs in 1981. He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. There is an historical marker to him in Kansas City, Missouri, where Municipal Stadium once stood.
Taylor served on Boards and commissions throughout the Greater Kansas City area, and as a community ambassador for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. He played a critical role in establishing the Derrick Thomas/Neil Smith Third and Long Foundation, dedicated to fighting illiteracy, from 1999 to 2004. After Kansas City football legend Thomas unexpectedly died in 2000, Taylor provided support and leadership to ensure Thomas's mission continued.
Starting in 2007, the Otis Taylor Award, as part of the Thomas A. Simone Awards, has been presented annually to the best wide receiver or tight end in Kansas City-area high school football.

## Failing health and death

In 1969, Taylor began experiencing seizures. In 1990, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease dementia, which eroded his health over the following decades, until he was bedbound and largely incommunicative in his last years. His family filed a lawsuit against the NFL in 2012, believing that his medical conditions were caused by injuries he received during his playing career. Taylor's sister Odell, a nurse, along with his wife and son, oversaw Taylor's healthcare for over a decade. He died on March 9, 2023, at the age of 80.