Taylor sends support for new QB Trey Lance
Lance draws small-school comparison from former 49ers WR
Don’t doubt Trey Lance’s potential as the 49ers’ quarterback just because you didn’t see him play at North Dakota State.
So says a 49ers’ legend. “With him coming in, yeah, there a lot of people weary, like, ‘We don’t know him.’ Well, they didn’t know me, either,” said former wide receiver John Taylor.
Taylor was a 1986 third-round draft pick out of Delaware State. This week, he was named to the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame.
Lance was drafted No. 3 overall out of North Dakota State to eventually succeed Jimmy Garoppolo. Lance played only one game last year because NDSU opted out of the fall season, and his other 16 starts came in leading the 2019 Bison to the Football Championship Subdivision national championship.
“A lot of people say, ‘I don’t know anything about him. I’ve never heard about him. I’ve just seen a couple of clips they showed off of television,’” Taylor said in a video conference with reporters Thursday after his hall of fame nod.
“My response is this: You didn’t know my name either. Half the people didn’t know where Delaware State was. And I’m sure when I was drafted, the first thing that came out of people’s mouths was, ‘Where’s Delaware State?’
“... We were not going to be on NBC, ABC or CBS on the weekend. Same thing with Trey. His school, North Dakota State, they’re not going to be on every weekend. Yeah, you might get a clip here and there of the game, especially if he did something good, but to see him on a regular basis, no you weren’t going to see that.”
Taylor, 59, retired from his trucking business last year. He played for the 49ers from 1987-1995, so he saw up close how the NFL’s all-time quarterback controversy played out between Joe Montana and Steve Young.
Taylor’s advice for the modern-day receivers who’ll be catching passes from Lance and Garoppolo come training camp later this month?
“As far as how the receivers handle it, it doesn’t matter,” Taylor said. “Whoever your quarterback is, you’ve got to play. Your job is to catch passes and block downfield. Your responsibility is not going to change.”
Taylor is responsible for the 1988 49ers’ last-minute Super Bowl-winning catch. He’s also known for a 286yard game at the Los Angeles Rams in 1989 that included two touchdown catches over 90 yards.
One catch he hasn’t forgotten: a 15-yard, gamewinning touchdown grab with 1:08 left at Seattle, after which he got drilled in the chest by Seahawks safety Eugene Robinson. Team photographer Michael Zagaris rushed to Taylor’s defense and got ejected from the game, Taylor fondly recalled.
“Zagaris was ready to fight,” Taylor recalled. “I completely relaxed because the play pretty much was over. That hit that I received in the game would today be an automatic suspension and fine. That’s how different the game is now.”
Taylor was part of the 49ers’ three most recent Super Bowl-winning teams, from 1988, ’89 and ’94. This coming season’s vintage drew a lofty compliment.
It’s been 35 years since Taylor joined the 49ers, a move that surprised not only him (he was sleeping during the draft) but also his friends he grew up with in New Jersey. They thought it was a misprint. After all, he was known more for his baseball talents, and when it came to football, he played running back and cornerback as a youth then free safety in high school.
“I didn’t become a wide receiver until I went to college,” Taylor said. “The reason I became a receiver was, I said to myself, if I can catch a baseball this small, I damn well should be able to catch a football this many times bigger than a baseball. That’s what made me want to be a wide receiver. I came in and I just went for it.”