Way Past Due

There was nobody more feared in the game of football in the 1960s and 70s than Otis Taylor. Most of us don't even know who he is these days, but if you saw him play back then, you KNOW HE SHOULD BE IN THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME. Despite still holding several Chiefs receiving records, and sharing an NFL Record with just one other player --  None other than the Consensus Greatest Of All Time, Jerry Rice -- Legendary Kansas City wideout Otis Taylor REMAINS on the outside looking in at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.   Yes, you read that correctly. And maybe you should take a minute to let that sink in.   Taylor, Arguably the Best, and Certainly the most most-dangerous wide receiver of his generation, a part of two championship Chiefs teams in the American Football League (AFL) and a Super Bowl IV Title in 1969 does not own a Gold Jacket or have his Bust in Canton, Ohio next to the league's other all-time greats of the era.   What's worse is that many of those "all-time greats" who played during the 1960s and '70s like Taylor, but were never his equal, DO HAVE their place in the Hall, many of them without superior statistics to Taylor's.   Not only that, but none of Taylor's receiving contemporaries were EVER named LEAGUE MVP by a National publication or News Service like the 6-3, blazing-fast and tough-as-nails Taylor was by UPI (United Press International) voters following his sensational 1971 season when he led the league in receiving yards following the Chiefs' Super Bowl run the year before.    Taylor tied for 2nd in The Associated Press MVP Award voting with Roger Staubach the same season, a feat also NEVER ACHIEVED by any of his fellow receivers in either the AFL or NFL during the years immediately preceding or following the AFL-NFL Merger (1960-80).   In actuality, no other receiver besides 49ers All-Time Great Jerry Rice can say they were ever named MVP by a nationally recognized publication or news service like Taylor was in 1971.    Yes, AGAIN, you read that CORRECTLY, and if it bothers you the way it bothers us that Otis Taylor is not in the Hall of Fame, please follow the link below and send the Hall a letter on behalf of Otis, and demand he be inducted into the Hall of Fame Now!

Episode 2 -- Hall of Fame Safety Ken Houston Compares Otis Taylor to Ali, Jim Brown When it Comes to Skill and Athleticism   The video podcast series "Way Past Due" Chronicles the almost 43-year Pro Football Hall of Fame exclusion of Otis Taylor, Super Bowl IV winning receiver and 1971 United Press International Most Valuable Player that to many who played with and against was in another stratosphere when it came to athleticism and ability.    "There are some athletes that you just know are better," Hall of Fame and NFL Top 100 Safety Ken Houston explained. "I compare it to being around Ali. You just knew he was the best, the most skilled. And that was Otis Taylor to me." Yet for whatever reason, 48 years after he played his last game, and 43 since becoming eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Taylor has yet top receive a Hall Call.   Tonight’s episode features NFL Top 100 All-Time Safety and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ken Houston, who calls Otis Taylor the Greatest Receiver he ever played against.  Despite still holding several Chiefs receiving records, and sharing an NFL Record with just one other player --  None other than the Consensus Greatest Of All Time, Jerry Rice -- Legendary Kansas City wideout Otis Taylor REMAINS on the outside looking in at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.   Yes, you read that correctly. And maybe you should take a minute to let that sink in.   Taylor, Arguably the Best, and Certainly the most most-dangerous wide receiver of his generation, a part of two championship Chiefs teams in the American Football League (AFL) and a Super Bowl IV Title in 1969 does not own a Gold Jacket or have his Bust in Canton, Ohio next to the league's other all-time greats of the era.   What's worse is that many of those "all-time greats" who played during the 1960s and '70s like Taylor, but were never his equal, DO HAVE their place in the Hall, many of them without superior statistics to Taylor's.  Not only that, but none of Taylor's receiving contemporaries were EVER named LEAGUE MVP by a National publication or News Service like the 6-3, blazing-fast and tough-as-nails Taylor was by UPI (United Press International) voters following his sensational 1971 season when he led the league in receiving yards following the Chiefs' Super Bowl run the year before.    Taylor tied for 2nd in The Associated Press MVP Award voting with Roger Staubach the same season, a feat also NEVER ACHIEVED by any of his fellow receivers in either the AFL or NFL during the years immediately preceding or following the AFL-NFL Merger (1960-80).  In actuality, no other receiver besides 49ers All-Time Great Jerry Rice can say they were ever named MVP by a nationally recognized publication or news service like Taylor was in 1971.    Yes, AGAIN, you read that CORRECTLY, and if it bothers you the way it bothers us that Otis Taylor is not in the Hall of Fame, please follow the link below and send the Hall a letter on behalf of Otis, and demand he be inducted into the Hall of Fame Now!

In Episode 1 "How We Arrived Here," Host Jason Watkins and Co-Host Kerwin Terry Explain the Motivation behind "Way Past Due," and give listeners background information on Otis Taylor and what he meant to professional football around the AFL-NFL Merger ... For all-time professional football greats like Kansas City Chiefs wideout Otis Taylor and Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Lemar Parrish, both of whom played during the era surrounding the AFL-NFL Merger, enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is WAY PAST DUE.   The video podcast series "Way Past Due" centers mainly on the now 42-year Hall of Fame exclusion of Otis Taylor, Super Bowl IV winning wide receiver, and 1971 United Press International Most Valuable Player that even Hall of Famers from the era view as on a level above their own.   "There are some athletes that you just know are better," Hall of Fame and NFL Top 100 Safety Ken Houston explained. "I compare it to being around (boxer) Muhammad Ali. You just knew he was the best, the most skilled. And that was Otis Taylor to me."   "The most feared man in football," Hall of Famer and Chiefs teammate Johnny Robinson said of Taylor.   But Taylor and other HBCU players have fallen victim to stereotypes and bias when it came to playing in the AFL, notably that the more-racially-inclusive AFL prior to the merger was an inferior league to the more-established and less-colorful NFL.  Taylor, Parrish, and as many of 180 others now find themselves among an ever-growing backlog of players that aren't being recognized for their contributions to the popularity of a league that is now the richest on the planet.   And that recognition is WAY PAST DUE.