Former Green Bay Packers Great Jim Taylor Dead At 83

GREEN BAY, WI. (THECOUNT) — Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor, who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1958-66, passed away early Saturday morning.

Taylor was 83.

“Taylor isn’t human,” Giants middle linebacker Sam Huff once said in awe after a game, “No human being could have taken the punishment he got today.”

Taylor ran with a football as though he was hell-bent on turning each and every game into a human demolition derby. There was nothing fancy or pretty about his style. He ran with ferocity. He ran with power. He ran with grit. 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.

Taylor surpassed 1,000 yards rushing five straight seasons from 1960 to 1964, including a league-high 1,474 yards when the Packers went 13-1 en route to winning the 1962 NFL championship. The Associated Press named Taylor the league’s most valuable player that year, although he saved his best for last. source

In the 1962 NFL Championship Game, played 17 days after he was voted MVP, Taylor delivered the most memorable performance of his career. In a brutal defensive battle, played in chilling temperatures, raw winds and on a Yankee Stadium field not much softer than concrete, Taylor carried 31 times and gained 85 yards as the Packers outlasted the New York Giants, 16-7.