John Taylor
The receiver who caught the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XXIII.
John Taylor (born March 31, 1962) is a former wide receiver and kick returner who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1987 to 1995. A third-round pick in the 1986 NFL draft, he won three Super Bowls with the team, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX, playing alongside Jerry Rice.
Quick Facts
- Position
- Wide receiver, kick returner
- Super bowls
- XXIII
- XXIV
- XXIX
Lore & Background
Taylor played college football at Delaware State after failing to make the team as a walk-on at Johnson C. Smith University. He scored 42 touchdowns there, 33 of them on receptions, set conference records, and was named MEAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1985. ESPN later ranked his selection the 25th greatest steal in NFL draft history.
Reader's Guide
Over nine NFL seasons Taylor caught 347 passes for 5,589 yards and 43 touchdowns, returned punts for 1,517 yards and went to two Pro Bowls. His 94 punt return yards across three Super Bowls are the most by any player. He was a Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee in 2018 but did not reach the finalists.
He is best known for catching Joe Montana's winning 10-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXIII. In 1988 he led the NFL in punt return yards with 556, and in that Super Bowl he set records for punt return yards and average. The next season he became a top receiver, with 60 catches for 1,077 yards and ten touchdowns, and in a December 1989 Monday Night game against the Rams he scored on two catches of more than 90 yards, an NFL first.
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