Shaw66 Posted August 14 Posted August 14 The old timers remember Lionel Taylor. Dead at 89. Awesome receiver for the Broncos in the AFL. First receiver in history with 100 receptions in a season, a number that was almost inconceivable in that era. He was as close to unstoppable as you can get. There was a story about him that may or may not be true, but at the time he was about the only receiver in pro football who could have done it. Story was that in one AFL game, on each play when he came to the line of scrimmage, he told the DB across from him what route he was running. Caught something like 11 passes in the game! He just abused defenders. RIP 3 1 2 5 Quote
Sestak4ever Posted August 14 Posted August 14 Interesting stats from their 1961 season. Their two quarterbacks were Tripucka and Herring. They combined for 2,850 yards passing, 15 TD’s and 43 interceptions and yet Taylor had that kind of season. Just amazing. 1 Quote
dwight in philly Posted August 14 Posted August 14 2 hours ago, Shaw66 said: The old timers remember Lionel Taylor. Dead at 89. Awesome receiver for the Broncos in the AFL. First receiver in history with 100 receptions in a season, a number that was almost inconceivable in that era. He was as close to unstoppable as you can get. There was a story about him that may or may not be true, but at the time he was about the only receiver in pro football who could have done it. Story was that in one AFL game, on each play when he came to the line of scrimmage, he told the DB across from him what route he was running. Caught something like 11 passes in the game! He just abused defenders. RIP O'YEA.. he was right in that mix of the early AFL elite receivers, Hennigan, Alworth, Burford, Dubenion ,Maynard, could go on.. RIP 1 Quote
eball Posted August 14 Posted August 14 I also heard today he was the first black assistant coach in the NFL. RIP Quote
ticketssince61 Posted August 14 Posted August 14 2 hours ago, Sestak4ever said: Interesting stats from their 1961 season. Their two quarterbacks were Tripucka and Herring. They combined for 2,850 yards passing, 15 TD’s and 43 interceptions and yet Taylor had that kind of season. Just amazing. Actually it was 18 TD and 45 Interceptions. And for Tripucka it was an improvement over the previous year when he threw 34 The next year George Blanda threw a still NFL record 42 INT's in 14 Games yet team was 11-3 and he was selected 2nd team All AFL What a great time to have been a DB ! 1 Quote
Florida Bills Fanatic Posted August 15 Posted August 15 4 hours ago, dwight in philly said: O'YEA.. he was right in that mix of the early AFL elite receivers, Hennigan, Alworth, Burford, Dubenion ,Maynard, could go on.. RIP Don't forget Art Powell. He was a nightmare with the Raiders. 1 Quote
Shaw66 Posted August 15 Author Posted August 15 9 minutes ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said: Don't forget Art Powell. He was a nightmare with the Raiders. And then Otis Taylor showed up. Some special guys. 2 Quote
Mike in Horseheads Posted August 15 Posted August 15 7 hours ago, Sestak4ever said: Interesting stats from their 1961 season. Their two quarterbacks were Tripucka and Herring. They combined for 2,850 yards passing, 15 TD’s and 43 interceptions and yet Taylor had that kind of season. Just amazing. Holy sh1t ! And people think are QB's have been bad over the years Quote
dwight in philly Posted August 15 Posted August 15 10 hours ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said: Don't forget Art Powell. He was a nightmare with the Raiders. For sure!.. he wasnt the same when he came to the Bills , seemed to be on the downside.. 1 Quote
Shaw66 Posted August 15 Author Posted August 15 1 hour ago, dwight in philly said: For sure!.. he wasnt the same when he came to the Bills , seemed to be on the downside.. But he had a great debut as a Bill. The Bills scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Jets 20 to 17, and Powell had two TD receptions. 1 Quote
ChronicAndKnuckles Posted August 15 Posted August 15 (edited) 18 hours ago, Shaw66 said: The old timers remember Lionel Taylor. Dead at 89. Awesome receiver for the Broncos in the AFL. First receiver in history with 100 receptions in a season, a number that was almost inconceivable in that era. He was as close to unstoppable as you can get. There was a story about him that may or may not be true, but at the time he was about the only receiver in pro football who could have done it. Story was that in one AFL game, on each play when he came to the line of scrimmage, he told the DB across from him what route he was running. Caught something like 11 passes in the game! He just abused defenders. RIP On Profootballreference.com his positions are labeled as WR, E, and FL. What ? Edit: okay E must be END ? I refuse to look these up. What is FL then? Edited August 15 by ChronicAndKnuckles Quote
ColoradoBills Posted August 15 Posted August 15 1 hour ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said: What is FL then? Flanker. 1 Quote
Sestak4ever Posted August 15 Posted August 15 17 hours ago, ticketssince61 said: Actually it was 18 TD and 45 Interceptions. And for Tripucka it was an improvement over the previous year when he threw 34 The next year George Blanda threw a still NFL record 42 INT's in 14 Games yet team was 11-3 and he was selected 2nd team All AFL What a great time to have been a DB ! As a team you are correct. The other two interceptions and TDS were thrown by other players. I was just giving the two main qb’s. Quote
dwight in philly Posted August 15 Posted August 15 3 hours ago, Shaw66 said: But he had a great debut as a Bill. The Bills scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Jets 20 to 17, and Powell had two TD receptions. Do remember that.. back in the day if you had an outside antenna , you could watch the Bills out of Erie Pa.. caught that game. He did look great! Quote
ticketssince61 Posted August 15 Posted August 15 2 hours ago, Sestak4ever said: As a team you are correct. The other two interceptions and TDS were thrown by other players. I was just giving the two main qb’s. Thanks - I did not notice that - as you said - 2 of the Int's were thrown by non QB's - who were a combined 5 of 13 They might have 2 NFL Records there: 1. Most Passes thrown by non QB 2. Most INT's thrown by non QB Quote
Shaw66 Posted August 15 Author Posted August 15 5 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said: On Profootballreference.com his positions are labeled as WR, E, and FL. What ? Edit: okay E must be END ? I refuse to look these up. What is FL then? This is funny to the old timers, but it's been so long it isn't surprising that people never learned the historic terminology, or forget. FL is for flanker. The history helps make it clear. In the 30s, I believe, most teams ran a single wing offense, with seven men lined up tight - essentially two tight ends. Those guys on the outside of the tackle were called ends. In the backfield there were four backs in some formation, and the guy who received the snap was in a short shot-gun formation. It was a running offense, with the ball carry following a convoy of three backs blocking ahead of him. Both ends were what we would call tight ends. They never were wide. Then in the 40s, somebody invented the T formation, with the QB under center and three running backs, a fullback and two half backs. They began throwing more regularly to the ends out of that formation. Eventually, someone figured out that it would be easier for the end to get open if he split away from the tackle - that is, to get wider but still on the line. Initially, both ends were still called ends on the roster, but if one split wide, then in that formation he was called a split end. They never split two ends, just one, I think because they always wanted the sixth man blocking on the line. Then someone realized that if one guy could open by being out wide, another guy out wide on the other side would be that much better. But they wanted to keep one end in, so they took one of the halfbacks and split him wide. He couldn't line up on the line because that would cover the end and make him ineligible. So, they said the halfback was "on the flank," meaning he was at the outside of the formation. Hence, a "flanker." A lot of times, the flanker was just one of the two halfbacks lined up wide. You had guys like Lenny Moore, who was a devastating ball carrier, and he was probably better when he lined up as the flanker. That is, you had more guys like Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey. But eventually, the flankers became more specialized as just receivers, and they were generally a speedster. Why? Because coaches still wanted the end to line up tight sometimes to support the run. So, split ends generally were bigger and tougher and slower than flankers. So, the routes they ran were different. Over time, of course, the split ends and flankers became interchangeable in the offense, sometimes even lining up with the split end wide and the flanker in the slot. That was revolutionary. But as they became interchangeable, they dropped their historic titles of end and flanker and both became simply wideouts. WR is a position like Edge. After a while, nobody cared whether a guy was technically a flanker or a split end, just like nobody cares much now whether in the guy is a defensive end or a linebacker. When Lionel Taylor was playing, it was unusual that he played both split end and flanker. That alone denotes that he was an exceptional player. In the fifties, most every team was splitting an end to one side and flanker to the other, so that end changed on the roster to a "split end." In those days, the split end would line up on the same side every play, and flanker would line up every time on the other side. 1 Quote
ChronicAndKnuckles Posted August 15 Posted August 15 1 hour ago, Shaw66 said: This is funny to the old timers, but it's been so long it isn't surprising that people never learned the historic terminology, or forget. FL is for flanker. The history helps make it clear. In the 30s, I believe, most teams ran a single wing offense, with seven men lined up tight - essentially two tight ends. Those guys on the outside of the tackle were called ends. In the backfield there were four backs in some formation, and the guy who received the snap was in a short shot-gun formation. It was a running offense, with the ball carry following a convoy of three backs blocking ahead of him. Both ends were what we would call tight ends. They never were wide. Then in the 40s, somebody invented the T formation, with the QB under center and three running backs, a fullback and two half backs. They began throwing more regularly to the ends out of that formation. Eventually, someone figured out that it would be easier for the end to get open if he split away from the tackle - that is, to get wider but still on the line. Initially, both ends were still called ends on the roster, but if one split wide, then in that formation he was called a split end. They never split two ends, just one, I think because they always wanted the sixth man blocking on the line. Then someone realized that if one guy could open by being out wide, another guy out wide on the other side would be that much better. But they wanted to keep one end in, so they took one of the halfbacks and split him wide. He couldn't line up on the line because that would cover the end and make him ineligible. So, they said the halfback was "on the flank," meaning he was at the outside of the formation. Hence, a "flanker." A lot of times, the flanker was just one of the two halfbacks lined up wide. You had guys like Lenny Moore, who was a devastating ball carrier, and he was probably better when he lined up as the flanker. That is, you had more guys like Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey. But eventually, the flankers became more specialized as just receivers, and they were generally a speedster. Why? Because coaches still wanted the end to line up tight sometimes to support the run. So, split ends generally were bigger and tougher and slower than flankers. So, the routes they ran were different. Over time, of course, the split ends and flankers became interchangeable in the offense, sometimes even lining up with the split end wide and the flanker in the slot. That was revolutionary. But as they became interchangeable, they dropped their historic titles of end and flanker and both became simply wideouts. WR is a position like Edge. After a while, nobody cared whether a guy was technically a flanker or a split end, just like nobody cares much now whether in the guy is a defensive end or a linebacker. When Lionel Taylor was playing, it was unusual that he played both split end and flanker. That alone denotes that he was an exceptional player. In the fifties, most every team was splitting an end to one side and flanker to the other, so that end changed on the roster to a "split end." In those days, the split end would line up on the same side every play, and flanker would line up every time on the other side. @Shaw66 very informative. Thank you Quote
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