Roosevelt Taylor was part of a heralded 1960 Grambling squad that earned the program its first-ever Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.
Still, few might have guessed that the New Orleans native would be among that team’s four future All-Pros.
Even Taylor, hailed later as one of the Chicago Bears’ greatest defensive backs, had his doubts.
“I really didn’t have any expectations when I went to Chicago, because I’d never been around a guy who had played professional football,” Taylor said. “From this whole city of New Orleans and the whole southern part of Louisiana, I don’t think there had been an African-American yet to play in the National Football League. The only Grambling guy who had come along before me to make a name in the NFL by then was (Lincoln Parish native Paul) ‘Tank’ Younger.”
Taylor would lead the NFL in interceptions with 9 in 1963, snatching a career total of 32. His three interceptions for touchdowns tied for the most by any safety in Bears history, and was tied for the second-most ever. He is also the first of just two Chicago free safeties to be named first team All-Pro, later having been joined by Mike Brown in 2001.
That’s earned Taylor a spot in the second annual Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame class, with induction ceremonies set for 6 p.m. Saturday, July 17, at the Monroe Civic Center.
“As you get older, you do enough to see and you feel things that you didn’t when you were young — how important how great a task it was,” Taylor said. “I feel that way nowadays.”
READ THE REST: Roosevelt Taylor’s consistency earned him Legend status at Grambling
No comments yet.