LSU Tiger Jim Taylor Wins Doak Walker Legends Award

quote:

---

Jim Taylor readily admits he wasn’t a typical running back.

At 6-0, 214 pounds and as strong as an ox, Taylor ran with a ferocity few backs ever have.

“I tried to initiate the contact,” Taylor said. “That might be a little bit different than the normal running back. If I’m pinned to the sideline ... if you drop down and initiate the contact with that cornerback or linebacker, I might pick up another 18 inches — which may make the difference in measuring for a first down.”

It was that constant grinding — whether for extra yardage or in his year-round preparation — that made Taylor what he became, an All-American at LSU and a Pro Football Hall of Famer with Green Bay.

Taylor will be honored with the 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award on Friday at a banquet at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

The first player to lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing in back-to-back seasons (1956-57), Taylor was named an All-American by the Football Writers Association of America in 1957. He was also the MVP of the Senior Bowl.

Though his college teams never played in a bowl, Taylor was a key piece in turning around LSU’s moribund program. Behind the leadership of coach Paul Dietzel and halfback Billy Cannon, LSU won the 1958 national championship a year after Taylor’s departure.

“With the ball under his arm, Jimmy Taylor was the best running back I’ve ever coached,” Dietzel said. “He was just so versatile.”

Along with Cannon and former USA Weightlifting coach Gayle Hatch, Taylor trained under the tutelage of legendary strength and conditioning coach Alvin Roy in Taylor’s hometown of Baton Rouge, La. Using a modern weightlifting regimen, Taylor and his training flew in the face of the prevailing wisdom at the time, which claimed muscle-bound players would lose their speed and agility.

“My work habits were just so superior,” Taylor said. “It was always, ‘How much is enough?’ When you are running sprints and training, it’s mind over matter.

“I knew I was going to get the ball, and knew I needed to be fit for the fourth quarter — for the team. It wasn’t for me, just because I got the ball.”

Professionally, Taylor was part of a talented nucleus — along with Paul Hornung, Bart Starr and others — that Vince Lombardi used to turn the Packers into NFL champions.

From 1960 to ’64, Taylor had five straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons for Green Bay. In 1962, he was named NFL MVP by the Associated Press after rushing for a league-high 1,474 yards and 19 touchdowns.

With Taylor at fullback, Green Bay won four NFL championships (1961, ’62, ’65, ’66) and the first Super Bowl. Taylor scored the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history during Green Bay’s 35-10 victory over Kansas City.

“We were a team that played with a team concept, worked very hard together, and we were proud with what we accomplished in the short period of time that Lombardi was there,” Taylor said.

Bill Curry, who played for Green Bay in Taylor’s final two seasons with the team, recalled a time Taylor came to him after a drill and gave him some advice Curry said stuck with him throughout his playing and coaching career.

“Jimmy said, ‘You know, after we run around the goal posts and get over there, we need to be good leaders,’ ” Curry said. “I told him that I agreed. I thought he was going to compliment me because I went so hard. He told me, ‘Don’t breathe so hard.’ I couldn’t believe it. You had to breathe hard. ‘No you don’t. Don’t ever let them see you are tired. Don’t ever let the opponent think he’s got you down. Never let them see it.’ ”

JIM TAYLOR

Birthplace: Baton Rouge, La.

Birthdate: Sept. 20, 1935

Position: Fullback

College: LSU

Notable: First player to lead SEC in rushing yards in consecutive seasons (1956-57). {ellipsis} A Football Writers Association of America All-American in 1957. ... MVP of the 1957 Senior Bowl.

Pro: Green Bay 1958-66, New Orleans 1967

Notable: Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976. ... Named to the Pro Bowl after each of his five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (1960-64). ... Member of four NFL championship teams and Super Bowl I winner. ... Scored the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history. ... Named the AP’s NFL MVP in 1962, when he led the league in rushing (1,474 yards) and TDs (19). ... Retired as the second-leading rusher in NFL history, behind Jim Brown.

Doak Walker Award reception and presentation banquet

When/where: 6 p.m. Friday, Hilton Anatole Hotel, Dallas

2010 recipient: LaMichael James, Oregon

PricewaterhouseCoopers Legends recipient: Jim Taylor, LSU/Green Bay Packers

Hosts: ESPN College GameDay’s Lee Corso , Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit
Tickets: 214-768-4314

---