John Taylor (American football)
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| Position: | Wide receiver / Return specialist | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | March 31, 1962 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Pennsauken Township, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| College: | Delaware State | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1986 / Round: 3 / Pick: 76 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Receptions: | 347 |
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| Receiving Yards: | 5,598 |
| Touchdowns: | 43 |
| Return touchdowns: | 2 |
| Punt return yards: | 1,517 |
| Kick return yards: | 276 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
John Gregory Taylor (born March 31, 1962) 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 Bowls XXIII, XXIV, and XXIX.
John who after graduating from high school, a year later went to college, at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., and as a walk-on failed to make the football team. He tried again at Delaware State the next year and, this time, as a walk-on, made the grade. 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 Mathis 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.
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 Fame 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 the most punt return yards (56) and highest punt return average (18.7 yards per return). Taylor also held the record for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history, with a 45-yard return in Super Bowl XXIII, until Denver Broncos' return specialist Jordan Norwood broke that record with a 61-yard return in Super Bowl 50.
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