It shattered me pretty badly when I knew I just couldn't be here so I called my son in Seattle and I said Vince you better call Jimmy and tell him I can't go to Canton because I can't speak. Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor, who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1958-66, passed away unexpectedly Saturday morning at a Baton Rouge, La., hospital. I want to congratulate the enshrinees and to compliment the Hall of Fame on their fine selection this year, and to thank Jimmy Taylor for making me a part of it, it is truly a highlight for me. Taylor also outrushed Brown in two of the three games. Thank you… correction this is my fourth trip to Canton. Associated Press All-Pro Team (chosen since 1940): 1962, Other years selected to an all-pro first team: 1961, Pro Bowl Selection (game played since 1950): 1960, '61, '62, '63, '64. His grandparents had their own ragtime band and his mother had a degree in music from Columbia College.

Your California Privacy Rights Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve Its History, Promote Its Values & Celebrate Excellence Everywhere, "You got to enjoy punishment because you are going to deliver so much of it, and you are going to get so much of it…If you are prepared you don’t really feel the punishment during the game.”.

David Baker, president of the Hall, lauded Taylor for not only personifying Lombardi’s “run to daylight” philosophy but for living his life as he played game, with “passion, determination and love for all he did.”. Taylor was not listed as playing on Oct. 11, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25. Jimmy Brown may be the best all-around athlete I've seen, but he doesn't have Taylor's desire.".

But Taylor approached each of their matchups as a personal affront and led the Packers to victory in all three of their head-to-head battles. “He established a caliber of football that he felt like would be championship.”. Taylor led Southeastern Conference in scoring with 59 points in 1956. As durable as he was tough, Taylor also missed only five games. Taylor played his final season with the expansion New Orleans Saints. In what turned out to be Brown's final game, the Packers held him to 50 on 12 carries. Athletic director Joe Alleva called Taylor the “ultimate LSU guy” who “bled purple and gold as well as Green Bay green and gold.”. It wasn't until the final two games on the West Coast that Scooter McLean gave Taylor his chance.

Bottom line: He played like a man possessed, a throwback to the days when football more closely resembled trench warfare and the sole mission of each player was to seemingly dish out more punishment than he took.

In all, Taylor started at fullback on four of Vince Lombardi's five NFL championship teams and led the Packers in rushing seven times. In 1961, Taylor ran for 1,307 yards and scored an NFL-best 15 touchdowns as the Packers rolled to a 37-0 victory over the Giants in Green Bay for Lombardi’s first title. Jim was a throwback to an earlier era, who ran with a fierceness no one could match.