Don Maynard
| No. 13 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | January 25, 1935 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Crosbyton, Texas | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Texas Western | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1957 / Round: 9 / Pick: 109 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Receptions: | 633 |
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| Receiving yards: | 11,834 |
| Touchdowns: | 88 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Donald Rogers Maynard (born January 25, 1935) is a former American football player who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals; the American Football League (AFL) with the New York Jets; and the World Football League (WFL) with the Shreveport Steamer.
Growing up in Texas, Maynard's father was a cotton broker, and with the family constantly moving, Don attended 13 schools, including five high schools. As a senior at Colorado City High School in Colorado City, Texas, he lettered in football, basketball and track.
Maynard played collegiately for Rice University (one year), then for Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso). In three seasons (1954–56) with the Miners, he caught only 28 passes but averaged an astounding 27.6 yards per reception for 10 touchdowns. As a running back, he had 843 yards rushing on 154 attempts for a 5.4 average and also returned punts and kickoffs. He amassed 2,283 all-purpose yards, while also intercepting 10 passes playing defensive back.
He was selected in the ninth round (109th overall) of the 1957 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. In 12 games as a rookie, he had 12 rushes for 45 yards (3.8 yards per carry), caught five passes for 84 yards (a 16.8 yard average) and played on special teams. However, after being released by the Giants during their 1959 training camp, he played one season in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, catching just one pass for 10 yards. In the off-season, he worked as a plumber as well as a teacher.
Maynard became the first player to sign with the New York Titans in 1960 (the team was renamed the Jets in 1963). This came about because the Titans' first head coach, Sammy Baugh, had coached against Maynard in college and knew his talent. Although scorned by the New York press as an "NFL reject" in 1960, he teamed with Hall of Famer Art Powell to form the first professional wide receiver tandem to each gain over 1,000 yards on receptions in a season, with the pair achieving this milestone again in 1962. Over the next 13 years Maynard put up receiving numbers that would earn him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
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