Sunday, February 3, 2008

The day of and the day before!





SuperBowl XLII is less than 24 hours away and my 61st birhday is less than 48 hours away... I don't remember my first birthday - but I am sure my mother and dad went all out for the first grandchild in the family...

I do remember watching SuperBowl I, at that time it was called the "AFL-NFL World Championship Game" - I was at the San Diego Naval Training Station and our Chief Petty Officer smuggled in a small black and white TV for the training class to watch the game on Sunday, Janurary 15th, 1967... Green Bay Packers 35-10 over the Kansas City Chiefs.

One of the Packers many stars, was a running back from Baton Rouge - and one of my all-time favorite pro football player, on current LSU team Jacob Hester reminds me alot of "Jimmy" Taylor.

James Charles "Jim" Taylor was a star athlete at Baton Rouge High School. He played college football at LSU, and was selected in the second round of the 1958 NFL Draft, the 15th overall pick. He holds many Packers' records, including career rushing yards, touchdowns, single-season touchdowns. He won the NFL rushing title in 1962, the only season that Jim Brown did not lead the league during his nine year career. Taylor's single-season yardage mark (1474) was not surpassed by a Packer until Ahman Green ran for 1883 yards in 2003. At retirement, Taylor's 83 career rushing touchdowns placed him behind only Jim Brown.
Taylor was a member of four NFL championship teams (1961, 1962, 1965, and 1966), where he was teamed in the backfield with halfback Paul Hornung. In the Packers 16-7 championship win over the New York Giants in 1962, Taylor set a championship record with 31 carries (for 85 yards) and scored Green Bay's only touchdown of the game. In Green Bay's 1965 championship win, he rushed for 97 yards. In January 1967, Taylor and the Packers played in Super Bowl I, in which they easily defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. Taylor was the top rusher of the game with 56 rushing yards and a touchdown (with his score being the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history).


Although not exceptional in size, Jim Taylor was a physical fullback who often won legendary duels with linebacker Sam Huff. Taylor was selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1960-64. He fumbled only 34 times in the 2,173 times he handled the ball (1.56% of his touches.)