ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Lionel Taylor, who starred for the Denver Broncos in the 1960s and became the first wide receiver in pro football history to record a 100-catch season, has died. He was 89.
His grandson, also named Lionel Taylor, told the team that Taylor died at his home near Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Aug. 6.
The Broncos plan to honor Taylor during their preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night.
Taylor was the first player in either the AFL or NFL to record 100 catches in a season and he's also believed to have been the first Black coordinator in NFL history. He served as the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator from 1980-81.
Taylor wasn't drafted in 1958 after starring in both basketball and football at New Mexico Highlands. After playing semipro football for a year, he joined the Chicago Bears as a linebacker in 1959 before becoming a member of the Broncos' inaugural team in 1960.
He led the new American Football League in receiving in five of the league's first six seasons, including in 1961, when he had 100 catches for 1,176 yards. He spent seven seasons in Denver, becoming the franchise's career receiving leader with 543 catches for 6,872 yards and 44 touchdowns. He finished his career by playing two seasons for the Houston Oilers in 1967-68.
Taylor, who was among the first players inducted into the Broncos' Ring of Fame in 1984, had an extensive coaching career after retiring as a player. He won two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s during his seven-year stint as the team's wide receivers coach.
He also served as receivers coach for the Rams from 1977-79 and as their offensive coordinator from 1980-81. According to NFL Films, he was the first Black coordinator in the league.
Taylor also served as receivers coach at Oregon State from 1982-83 and as Texas Southern's head coach from 1984-88. He later worked as the Cleveland Browns' tight ends coach and as head coach of NFL Europe's London/England Monarchs.
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FILE - Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Lionel Taylor is photographed at Athlete's Performance, Monday, Jan. 15, 2007, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Roy Dabner, File)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.
“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
