A recent rundown of each NFL team’s biggest snubs from the Pro Football Hall of Fame got it right for the Chiefs when they selected Otis Taylor.
When it comes to the team’s presence in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, located in Canton, Ohio, the Kansas City Chiefs are fairly well represented. Throughout the team’s storied history, a significant number of legends of the game have called K.C. their home, and Arrowhead Stadium has hosted some of football’s most iconic moments. That said, there is one name most fans in Chiefs Kingdom would agree is missing in the hallowed halls of the HOF: wide receiver Otis Taylor.
In a recent column detailing the biggest Hall of Fame snubs from each NFL team, FanSided’s Mike Phillips got it exactly right when he mentioned Taylor as the biggest miss when it comes to the Hall selecting Chiefs players.
Taylor was the first great wide receiver in franchise history for the Chiefs, a strong presence at the position even in stature at 6’3″, 215 lbs. Taylor broke out in his second season, the 1956 campaign, with an incredible 1,297 yards on only 58 catches and 8 touchdowns—good for a league-leading 22.4 yards/carry. At his size, Taylor’s ability to stretch the field was second to none, giving the Chiefs an unstoppable force when targeted with the ball.
Taylor’s decade-long career kept him at Arrowhead from 1965-75 and earned him three Pro Bowl (or the AFL equivalent) honors and two All-Pro nods. He finished his career with 410 catches for 7,306 receiving yards and 89 touchdowns. Even as passing offenses have become much more prolific, Taylor is still the wide receiver with the most receiving yards in team history and he remains ahead of Tyreek Hill by a single touchdown to lead that category as well.
For perspective on how dangerous Taylor was with the football, he averaged four years more per catch than Hill. Perhaps Taylor will one day earn induction from Senior Hall voters to remedy the biggest snub for K.C.
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