Otis Taylor, former Chiefs receiver, dies at 80 following battle with Parkinson's

Chiefs legend Otis Taylor, the wide receiver who led Kansas City to its first world championship in Super Bowl IV, died following a battle with Parkinson's disease and dementia on Thursday, his family confirmed to The Associated Press. He was 80. 

"The Kansas City Chiefs organization is saddened by the passing of Otis Taylor," Chiefs Chairman/CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement on Friday. "My family and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Otis' wife Regina, his sister Odell and the entire Taylor family as we mourn his passing."

Taylor spent the entirety of his 11-year career with the Chiefs, where he recorded 57 touchdowns and 7,306 receiving yards, the third most in franchise history behind Tony Gonzalez and Travis Kelce. Taylor was inducted into the Chiefs’ ring of honor in 1982. 

"Otis' legacy will live forever as a member of the Chiefs Hall of Fame," Clark added.

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Taylor is best known for his 46-yard touchdown in the Chiefs' 23-7 win victory over the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings in the final AFL-NFL World Championship Game in January 1970 before the merger, which is known as Super Bowl IV. Quarterback Len Dawson threw a short pass to Taylor, who stiff-armed his way to the 46-yard touchdown. 

"Otis made my job easy," Dawson, a fellow Chiefs Hall of Famer, said about his teammate. "If you got the pass to Otis, you knew he'd catch it."

Taylor was drafted out of Prairie View A&M in the fourth round of the 1965 AFL draft by the Chiefs. He was a two-time AFL champion in 1966 and 1969, and made the Pro Bowl in 1971 and 1972 after the merger. After his career, Taylor spent 11 years as a scout for the Chiefs.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and associated dementia in 1990, and in 2012, his family filed a lawsuit against the NFL claiming it was legally responsible for health issues he experienced beginning with seizures in 1969. 

Bedridden and largely unable to talk in recent years, the lawsuit sought financial help for his care, overseen for more than a decade by his sister, Odell, a licensed vocational nurse, along with his wife Regina and son, Otis Taylor III.

Contributing: The Associated Press