Tag Archives: upper deck legends 1997

AFL, NFL, NFLE, WLAF

Taylor, Lionel

Card: Upper Deck Legends 1997
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 6/4/14  Received: 8/13/16  (801 days)

Lionel Taylor had an amazing career that began in 1959 playing for the Chicago Bears.  He didn’t record a reception for the team during his rookie year and opted to join the upstart American Football League during its inaugural season in 1960 for the Denver Broncos. Taylor went on to endear himself as one of the most dominant receivers in the history of the league, leading the AFL in receptions 5 of the next 6 years.  In 1961 he set a modern era record with 100 receptions (which was broken in 1964 by Charlie Hennigan at 101). He played for the Broncos through 1966- joining the Oilers for the 1967 and 1968 seasons.  Lionel retired from the gridiron in 1969.

Taylor established himself quickly as an up and coming assistant coach with the Steelers as a receivers coach in 1970.  He’d remain there through 1976, cultivating a reputation as a Super Bowl winning positional coach.  He joined the Rams from 1977-1979, where he was offensive coordinator in 1980 and 1981.  Lionel then applied his trade at the college level for Oregon State, and then as head coach at Texas Southern through 1988.  Returning to the NFL in 1989, Taylor worked with the Cleveland Browns tight ends and as a pass coordinator.

Taylor joined the World League of American Football in 1995 as offensive coordinator to the London Monarchs. As the league rebranded to the NFLE, he’d take over as head coach of the franchise in 1996 and shepherd the franchise through to become the England Monarchs. It was a tough run for Taylor as head coach at the end, as his team was a vagabond franchise playing all over England looking for a new home. Since there was no established fan base, this gave the Monarchs no home field advantage.  The Monarchs finished with a 3-7 record during their swan song season.

Taylor has fully retired from the sport and lives in New Mexico.  At a clip over 800 days, I had fully given up on getting a response from Lionel, so this one came as quite a surprise to get back. It’s a shame, as with many American Football League players, Lionel has gotten little to no traction in Hall of Fame circles, despite his impressive numbers.

AFL
G/GS 121/NA      REC 567     YDS  7195    AVG 12.7   TD 45    LG  80T

NFLE
W  11     L 17       PCT .393

NFL

Jones, Ed ‘Too Tall’ (2)

udldg97 ejonesCards: ProSet 1989, Upper Deck Legends 1997, Score 1989, Topps 1984
Acquired: 2012, Akron Acquisition. 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 8/5      Received:  8/12   (7 days)
Failure: 2014, C/o Home
See Also: Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones

pset89 ejonesEd Too Tall Jones was my favorite Cowboy player on defense as a kid, so after getting him all those years ago in person, I thought that I might nab him on these other cards I had. I got the Topps 84 through a friend who was liquidating his collection in 2012. Then later in 2014,  I had intended to attend an event with him at it in Dallas, but two days before leaving I got very sick, so I had to call it off.  Right afterwards I sent off for him TTM, but it must have been a sacrifice to the mail gods, as the highly reliable Jones did not respond.  I gave him sco89 ejonesanother shot in 2016 and I was pretty happy with the response, with him signing the ProSet, Score, and Upper Deck entries.

Ed has gotten around over the past few years. The surprisingly durable Jones has made appearances in a few movies- most recently The Wedding Ringer wearing his iconic #72.

He also was elected to the Black College Football Hall of Fame in to84 ed jones2015 after leaving Tennessee State second on the school’s all time list with 106 sacks. He was also recognized as the player of honor at the 17th Annual John Merritt Classic game against Alabama State that year as well. He is an avid golfer and makes appearances at many celebrity tournaments outside the Dallas area.

Despite Jones’ strong pro football resume, he played during an era when sacks and tackles were not tracked/ did not count, and with the backlog of defensive players AND over abundance of Cowboys nominated every year, he has not been enshrined in the HoF. Recently a fan petition through change.org did receive some traction attempting to get him inducted at least into the Cowboys Ring of Honor- something that seems long overdue for the iconic Too Tall Jones at least not be in.

 

AFL, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Joiner, Charlie

ud97lgd cjoiner
Card: Upper Deck Legends 1997
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 1/2     Received:  2/2    (31 days)

Charlie Joiner played an exhaustive 18 seasons in the AFL/NFL. Originally a 4th round pick of the Houston Oilers in 1969, as a defensive back, he made the switch to wide receiver and then started 8 games in 1970. He’d record 28 receptions for 416 yards and 3 TDs, including a 87 yarder.  He’d play with the Oilers through 6 games of the 1972 season but was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Joiner spent the next 3 seasons there where he started coming into his own during the 1975 season. He’d pull down 37 receptions for 726 yards and 5 TDs.  The Bengals then traded him to the Chargers, where Charlie became the perfect fit for Air Coryell’s West Coast Offense catching passes from young Dan Fouts. In the midst of the ‘Dead Ball Era’, Charlie had 50 receptions for 1056 yards and 7 TDs -earning his first Pro Bowl nomination. He’d return to form in 1979 with a career high 72 receptions and 1008 yards with his second Pro Bowl berth.  The following year in 1980, Charlie earned his final Pro Bowl trip, and his first and only All-Pro Honor with 70 receptions for 1132 yards and 7 TDs. While he’d log a career high 1,188 yards in 1981, he did not earn any additional honors for the remainder of his career.  Joiner personified longevity in a league meant to break people.  He continued to play for the Chargers until his retirement after the 1986 season.  His 239 games played as a wide receiver, receptions, and yards, were NFL records at the time of his retirement.

G/GS  239/211      REC 750       YDS 12146     AVG 16.2    TD 65   LG 87