Editor’s note: In the Colorado Classics series, The Denver Post takes a weekly look at individuals who made their mark on the Colorado sports landscape and what they are doing now.
This isn’t to say there was a lack of sophistication in game plans during the early days of the American Football League, but one of the Broncos’ best offensive combinations made it up as they went along in their first game together against the New York Titans on Sept. 23, 1960, at the Polo Grounds.
Lionel Taylor, who went on to a career that earned him a place in the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, remembers the first words he heard from quarterback Frank Tripucka: “Hey, you. Can you run a post?”
“I didn’t know his name and he didn’t know mine,” Taylor said. “I said ‘Yeah,’ and we ran it for a touchdown.”
It was the third game of the Broncos’ first AFL season. Taylor had joined the team the previous week after leaving the Chicago Bears. Tripucka had permission from coach Frank Filchock to tend to business matters in New York City and had missed some of the midweek practices. When the post pattern was called, Tripucka and Taylor had not officially met.
But they got to know each other pretty well on the run. The Broncos lost to the Titans 28-24 en route to a 4-9-1 season. Although missing the first two games at Boston and Buffalo, Taylor went on to haul in 92 passes for 1,235 yards and 12 touchdowns.
During the next two seasons with Tripucka doing the throwing, Taylor caught 177 passes and scored eight more touchdowns.
Taylor played four more seasons, leading the Broncos in receptions five of six years on the way to a 543 career catches, 6,872 yards and 44 touchdowns.
Tripucka lost his starting job after the 1962 season, and Taylor was the main target for quarterbacks Mickey Slaughter, Jacky Lee and John McCormick, and the third-best target for Max Choboian in 1966.
While Taylor didn’t know Tripucka’s name on the first touchdown catch at the Polo Grounds, it didn’t take long for him to recognize the quarterback’s prowess. The two became good friends.
“I wish I had played with him in his prime,” Taylor said. “If you couldn’t catch his ball, you couldn’t catch. We scored a lot of points, we just didn’t win many games. I thought we were on our way when John McCormick came in. He really could throw the ball, but he got hurt.”
The Broncos were 26-69-3 the seven seasons Taylor played. His coaches were Filchock, Jack Faulkner, Mac Speedie and Ray Malavasi. There weren’t many victories to talk about, but Taylor looks back on the AFL fondly.
“We were just happy to have a place to play,” Taylor said. “The AFL gave us a chance to play. Players like Lenny Dawson and Art Powell weren’t playing. There just wasn’t any room in the NFL.”
The year before the AFL began in 1960, the NFL had 12 teams.
“There were a lot of good football players who were happy as all outdoors to have a place to showcase how good they were,” Taylor said. “I was able to play on some special teams with the Bears, but they really didn’t know I was even there.”
Taylor got his chance with the Broncos thanks to general manager Dean Griffing, who had seen Taylor play in a semipro league in California. Taylor had played in college at New Mexico Highlands, but he found that wasn’t a high-profile beginning.
“Everyone would ask me where was New Mexico Highlands,” Taylor said. “When I was with the Bears, they were on me so badly that I almost left camp.”
Taylor didn’t think twice about the vertically striped socks, a trademark for the Broncos the first year.
“We never thought about the socks,” Taylor said. “We were just glad to be playing. They didn’t fit some of our players very well, but I did all right with my bird legs. I wish I had five or six pair of them now. I’d be a millionaire.”
Taylor remembers some special things about the AFL.
“We played in Fenway Park in Boston in those days and the fans were right on top of us,” Taylor said. “They would throw ice at us. Faulkner went down on the sidelines. We thought he had a heart attack, but he just got hit with a chuck of ice.”
Taylor made a highlight film when he backpedaled 27 yards into the end zone for a touchdown against Buffalo.
“I was running for my life,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t the fastest. They’d ask me if I could catch in a crowd, and I’d say I never could get out of a crowd.”
After leaving the Broncos after the 1966 season, Taylor played briefly with Oakland and Houston.
He went into coaching and earned two Super Bowl rings on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff under Chuck Noll.
“I had a lot of fun,” Taylor said. “I always felt that on Sunday I owed the fans a day’s work. They paid our salaries. The highlights were the chance to play and the Ring of Fame.”
Taylor lives outside of Albuquerque. At 71, he remains connected to football as an instructor at a center in Tempe, Ariz., where college players improve their skills to impress NFL scouts.
And there are some occasional gatherings with former players.
“The older you get, the bigger the lies,” Taylor said. “Every year you get better.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
