After his record-setting playing career, Taylor also became the first Black coordinator in NFL history
Lionel Taylor.
Lionel Taylor, one of the Denver Broncos’ greatest players who went on to become one of the most important groundbreakers in NFL history, has died.
Taylor was 89 years old.
The Broncos announced the legendary wide receiver’s death on Wednesday, Aug. 13, sharing that Taylor’s family had recently informed the team he died earlier this month on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Taylor played seven seasons with Denver, who honored the “tremendous impact” he had on the team throughout his playing career.
The wide receiver was one of the team’s all-time leaders in receptions (543), receiving yards (6,872) and receiving touchdowns (44).
Taylor held the records for receptions and receiving yards for more than 30 years and still ranks in the top five in all three categories for the Broncos, according to the franchise.
As an original member of the Denver Broncos team, which began play in 1960, Taylor went on to become a three-time American Football League all-star.
“This was a guy [who had] hands like vice grips,” AFL historian and author Dave Steidel said of Taylor, according to the Broncos.
“If a pass was near him, he was getting it. He caught double-digit passes [per game]. Nobody was catching 10, 11, 12 in a game back then in either league.”
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Lionel Taylor.
Taylor left the Broncos in 1966 and played two more seasons with the Houston Oilers before retiring after the 1968 season.
He was inducted as an inaugural member of the Broncos’ “Ring of Fame” in 1984, and later inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1970.
But it was Taylor’s post-playing career that may have left the biggest impact on football history.
After two years, the Kansas City, Mo., native rejoined the league as a wide receivers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams for a decade.
Then, in 1980, Taylor made history when the Rams promoted him to become the team’s offensive coordinator.
The move made Taylor the NFL’s first Black coordinator, breaking a color barrier that many Black NFL coaches today still credit as a seminal moment for their own careers.
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Lionel Taylor.
“We all need role models in life, and fortunately, there was a Lionel Taylor there that I could look at and say, ‘Yeah, this is possible,’” Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy told NFL Films in 2024, according to the Broncos.
“I came in the league with Herm Edwards and Ray Rhodes, and we all became head coaches,” he continued. “It would not have happened without Lionel Taylor.”
Taylor later became a head coach at Texas Southern University in 1984 and later retired in 1998 after coaching the NFL World’s London Monarchs for one season.
In 2024, the Pro Football Hall of Fame recognized Taylor with one of its “Awards of Excellence,” honoring him as a “significant contributor to the game” of football.
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