KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Legendary former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor Jr. has died, the team confirmed Friday.
Taylor, 80, was a key figure on the Chiefs’ Super Bowl IV championship team.
"The Kansas City Chiefs organization is saddened by the passing of Otis Taylor," Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement from the team. "My family and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Otis' wife Regina, his sister Odell and the entire Taylor family as we mourn his passing."
Taylor — who also leaves behind a son, Otis Taylor III — twice earned All-Pro honors during an 11-year NFL career, all with Kansas City, and also was selected to the All-AFL First Team in 1966.
He "died peacefully at his home last night after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s Disease," according to Kansas City-area attorney and family friend Kevin Regan.
Regan served on the Derrick Thomas/Neil Smith Third and Long Foundation board along with Taylor and his wife, Regina.
After his playing career ended, Taylor worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield and was active with the Derrick Thomas/Neil Smith Third and Long Foundation among other charitable efforts.
Taylor’s 46-yard touchdown catch and run during Kansas City’s 23-7 win against Minnesota helped ice the Super Bowl IV victory and is among the most-replayed highlights in franchise history.
"He played an integral part in the early success of our franchise," Hunt said. "He became a Kansas City icon with his signature touchdown in Super Bowl IV, as he helped the Chiefs bring home our first Lombardi Trophy."
He had largely disappeared from public view in recent years due to declining health, but Taylor is considered by many a revolutionary figure in NFL history, an on-field presence who helped teams reimagine the impact a wide receiver could have.
"He was one of the most dynamic receivers of his era, and he helped revolutionize the position," Hunt said. "Off the field, he was kind and dedicated to his community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Otis' legacy will live forever as a member of the Chiefs Hall of Fame."
A native of Houston, the 6-foot-3 Taylor played collegiately at Prairie View A&M, winning a 1963 NAIA national title, before the Chiefs selected him with the No. 29 overall pick in the fourth round of the 1965 AFL Draft.
Philadelphia picked Taylor in the 15th round of the 1965 NFL Draft, but he chose Kansas City, where he remained for his entire pro football career.
Taylor quickly established himself as late Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson’s top target.
He was inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame in 1982.
Taylor, who played for the Chiefs from 1965-75, led the AFL in receiving touchdowns (11) in 1967 and the post-merger NFL in receiving yards (1,110) in 1971, winning the UPI’s AFC Player of the Year that season.
He led in receiving yards for seven of eight seasons in the middle of his career (1966-67, 1969-73) and finished with 410 catches for 7,306 yards with 57 touchdowns.
Taylor added another 27 receptions for 481 yards with two touchdowns in seven career playoff games across four postseason appearances.
He was a three-time Pro Bowler and also played on the Chiefs’ 1966 AFL championship team.
Despite playing in the NFL at a time when the ground game was more prevalent, Taylor remains one of the franchise’s all-time best receivers.
He ranks sixth in career receptions, third in receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns.
Taylor still owns the Chiefs’ records for most receiving yards and touchdowns by a wide receiver as he only sits behind tight ends Tony Gonzalez and Travis Kelce in franchise history.
"Otis had a profound impact on Kansas City," Regan said. "During his career, every boy playing football wanted to wear the number 89 on their jersey. Kids on every block in Kansas City would emulate Otis’ high stepping into the end zone and spiking the ball."
Last summer, Taylor was announced as a semifinalist for the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame’s “Senior” class, but he wasn’t among the finalists and remains snubbed from Canton.
"He leaves large footprints in our community that will last forever — footprints of love, kindness, and excitement on Sundays," Regan said. "Otis Taylor most certainly made our world a better place for all who knew him!"
The family requests donations to the Third and Long Foundation in lieu of flowers and will announce celebration of life details, Regan said in a statement.
Since 2007, the Otis Taylor Award has been presented annually to the best wide receiver or tight end in Kansas City-area high school football as part of the Thomas A. Simone Awards.
Taylor was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
During the 1987 NFL players’ strike, Taylor worked as a scout for the Chiefs and was assaulted as he arrived at Arrowhead Stadium by Jack Del Rio, who mistook Taylor for a replacement player. The two settled out of court after Taylor pressed charges.
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