Jan 23, 1989
None of his collegiate contests at Delaware State nor any game earlier in his pro career had prepared John Taylor for the adulation and joy that absolutely overwhelmed him yesterday at Joe Robbie Stadium.
Neither did Super Bowl XXIII, up until the frenzy of its final 34 seconds.
That's when Taylor, the 26-year-old Pennsauken, N.J., product, made the most important pass reception of his two-season NFL career, even if it was his only catch of the day.
The 11th play of an awesomely engineered 92-yard drive, the catch gave the 49ers their final touchdown and a 20-16 comeback victory over the Cincinnati Bengals - as Taylor became the least likely hero in what was almost certainly the best Super Bowl ever played.
All that evolved, of course, from the second-down, 10-yard pass that Taylor caught from quarterback Joe Montana, almost at the deepest recess of the Cincinnati end zone.
Taylor wasn't even the primary receiver on the play, which is listed as "20 Halfback Curl, X-Up," in the 49ers' playbook.
It was designed to go to Roger Craig, the 49ers' versatile halfback, and Taylor hardly could have been faulted for thinking that Jerry Rice also ranked ahead of him among Montana's targets. Rice, after all, had scored earlier in the fourth quarter, as part of an 11-reception performance that totaled 215 yards.
"Basically, all I was to do was just go straight up the field," Taylor said. "Fortunately, it worked for us. Once I came off the ball and nodded out, the cornerback stayed outside. I just went straight up. I saw that the weak safety (Ray Horton) just went outside of me, so I just made sure I stayed inside. "
Acknowledging what everyone had witnessed throughout the game, Taylor added: "You know they would think that we were going to Jerry. . . . Jerry was just to run motion to clear out the back side, but he had been having so many big catches all day that evidently they figured in that type of moment we were going to go to Jerry again. "
Taylor's straight-line reception route, like a sprinter staying in his lane, made up for a missed opportunity earlier in the game.
"I had a catch earlier," he said. "I mean, I had a chance for a catch earlier where I blew the drive. It was third and 3, and I missed a simple out pattern. I said, 'Hey, if I get another chance, I'm going to take it from there. ' "
Taylor said that the Niners had been quietly composed for their final shot at victory, even though Cincinnati led by 16-13 with 3 minutes, 10 seconds left when the drive started.
"There wasn't a lot said. We got in the huddle and we said, 'Look, it's now or never. We've been here before. Let's just play the type of ball we know how to play and go from there. ' "
The reception produced Taylor's first touchdown of the three-game postseason and was only his seventh catch in that time. Indeed, it was his 15th catch of the season.
"I just made sure I held onto the ball and had both feet in the end zone," Taylor said. "That's all I wanted to do. Once that happened, I was happy. My mind was blank. I just looked up and said, 'Hey, we got one! ' "
Taylor also had a moment earlier in the game, when he misjudged a punt by Cincinnati's Lee Johnson and saw the ball roll 63 yards before he picked it up and took off.
Taylor sprinted away for a 45-yard return, a Super Bowl record.
"I don't like to fair-catch punts," he said, "but that was one time that I should have fair-caught one. I messed up, so I had to make up. "
At Delaware State, Taylor had better numbers. An all-conference receiver, he totaled 2,426 yards and scored 33 touchdowns on 100 career receptions. In 1983, he averaged 29.7 yards per catch.
But none of it compared with his small contribution that achieved a Super Bowl victory for San Francisco.
"I dreamed plenty of times of being here in the big game," Taylor said, "and it just so happened that it happened this year. It's a long way from Delaware. A long way. "
He could hardly have chosen a happier trip.