It may seem a lifetime ago, but when Hall of Fame Quarterback Len Dawson was looking for a deep threat, it was Otis Taylor who was the target.  In fact, it was Taylor who caught half of the passes for the Kansas City Chiefs in their Super Bowl IV victory.

From Prairie View A&M, Taylor was a star in the AFL, and a big reason that the Chiefs were very good.  He was their top receiver and rewarded them with a 1,297 yard season in 1966.  He was still productive after the NFL/AFL merger and led the league in receiving yards with 1,110 in 1971.

Although Quarterback sacks have always taken place in football, it was not an official statistic in the NFL until 1982.  The first labelled “sackmaster” of American football would have to be the flamboyant and somewhat controversial Mark Gastineau who terrorized Quarterbacks; and not because he had sex with Brigitte Neilsen.

If it seemed like Jim Hart was the St. Louis Cardinals Quarterback forever it is because in football terms, he practically was.  Hart started 180 games for them from 1967 to 1983, but for such a long tenure it went largely unnoticed.  Playing for bad teams will generally do that.

Shannon Sharpe may be considered the best tight end of the 1990s, but a consensus number two would likely be Ben Coates.  Coincidentally, the two would wrap up their careers at the start of the new millennium as teammates for the Baltimore Ravens in winning Super Bowl XXXV.