Taylor

If you can remember "Run to Daylight" then you will remember Jim Taylor. The quick but bruising Packer fullback was the backbone of the team's great offense for their 1960s championship teams. One of the first great runners to be a devoted weightlifter coach Lombardi actually had to have him modify his workout program. One year he showed up at training camp with his neck muscles developed to the point that he had to turn his entire body rather than just his head to look for a flare pass while running laterally out of the backfield. Jim made "helmet news" just prior to Super Bowl I when he had his two bar face mask replaced by a less protective one bar variety. This was a gutsy and symbolic response to rival K. C. Chiefs Fred "The Hammer" Williamson's threat that during the game he would knock out Packer ball carriers with his vicious tackling technique. Unable to agree to salary terms after the 1966 season with the frugal Lombardi, Jim was sent to the New Orleans Saints and played in their inaugural season in 1967. Jim retired prior to the 1968 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.

Please enjoy Jim Taylor's Riddell "RK-2" helmet from his 1967 season. This helmet was on display at the Packer Hall of Fame for many years until it was recently returned to the private sector to provide more room for "Packer only" type memorabilia. The original Saints helmet remains one of the most beautiful styles ever introduced. The contrast of the old gold paint with the black and white helmet trim is very striking. Jim's helmet has the correct 2 layer black and white "fleur de lis" (a specific type of plant or flower identified with the royal arms of France) logo and factory applied striping. His playing number "31" is hand written above both ear holes on the inside of the helmet. After Super Bowl I Jim had returned to using the standard Riddell "BD-9" two bar mask (apparently not too many teams needed to motivate themselves prior to playing the lowly Saints like "The Hammer" did prior to playing the Pack)