Fisher and Fisher: Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Charley Taylor passes away

Twitter photo from Pro Football Hall of Fame
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In doing research for my book High School Football in Texas: Amazing Football Stories From the Greatest Players of Texas I learned how Charley Taylor evolved into a Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver. On Sunday, I was saddened by Taylor’s passing at the age of 80.

Taylor, who was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, was a multiple-sport athlete growing-up. In addition to football, Taylor played baseball, basketball and was a member of the track team at Dalworth High School.

21 Nov 1958, Fri Grand Prairie Daily News (Grand Prairie, Texas) Newspapers.com

During segregation, Dalworth was part of the talent-laden Prairie Valley Interscholastic League.

There aren’t a lot of newspaper reports during Taylor’s high school days, but I was able to discover that during his 1958 senior season, he was listed as a 185-pound fullback for the Dalworth Dragons. That 1958 team reached the Class 1A championship game where the Dragons lost to Livingston Dunbar.

Taylor was also part of Dalworth’s rock solid defense that only allowed one touchdown per game during the regular season.

In the title game, Taylor scored two touchdowns in Dalworth’s 26-24 loss.

After graduating from Dalworth, Taylor head to Arizona State where he played running back and defensive back. He was named an All-American after his junior and senior seasons.

Taylor was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984. He’s also a member of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.

In 1992, the Houston Chronicle named Taylor to the all-PVIL Team.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.