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Don Maynard

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Don Maynard
Position(s): Wide Receiver	Jersey #(s): 13
Born: January 25 1935 (1935-01-25) (age 73) Crosbyton, TX
Career Information
Year(s): 1973-1958
NFL Draft: 1957 / Round: 9 / Pick: 109
College: Texas Western
Professional Teams
New York Giants (1958) New York Titans / Jets (1960-1972) St. Louis Cardinals (1973)
Career Stats
Receptions	633
Receiving Yards	11,834
Touchdowns	88
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
Pro Bowl (x4) (1965, 1967, 1968, 1969) AFL All-Time Team 1967 AFL All-Star Game Offensive MVP New York Jets #13 Retired
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Donald Maynard (born January 25, 1935 in Crosbyton, Texas) was an American football player who played collegiately for Texas Western College (now University of Texas at El Paso) and professionally with the National Football League's New York Giants and the American Football League's New York Jets. After having been released by the Giants, Maynard became the very first player to sign with the New York Titans in 1960 (the team was renamed the Jets in 1963). Although scorned by the New York press as an "NFL reject", in 1960, he teamed with Hall of Famer Art Powell to form the first professional wide receiver tandem to each gain over 1,000 yards on receptions in a season, with the pair achieving this milestone again in 1962. Over the next 13 years (in a striking coincidence, he was one of the first pro football players to wear number 13), Maynard put up receiving numbers that would earn him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. Collecting 72 pass receptions in his first year as a Titan, he went on to compile four more seasons with 50 or more catches and 1,000 yards receiving, and held the professional football record for total receptions and yards receiving. A four-time AFL All-Star, he is sixth in all-time pro football touchdown receptions, and is a member of the All-time All-AFL Team. Despite great success from 1960-1964, Maynard's career reached a higher level in 1965 with the team's signing of Joe Namath out of Alabama. The duo would form one of football's all-time most feared and productive passing tandems. Maynard had 1,218 yards on 68 receptions and 14 TD's in Namath's first season (Namath had 22 TD passes that year), and in 1968 the duo hooked up 57 times for 1,297 yards (22.8 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns(Namath had 15 TD's that year). But it was in 1967 where Maynard truly left his mark, picking up 1,434 of Namath's historic 4,007 passing yards. It was the first 4,000-yd passing season in pro football history. The receiving yards were a career high for Maynard and led the league; he also had 71 receptions, 10 TD's, and averaged 20.2 yards per catch. In fact, Namath and Maynard were so locked in as tandem that, in the '68 Jets episode of NFL Network's "America's Game" series, Maynard says the duo had just one busted play the entire time they played together...and that was in Namath's first career game. Also in that episode, Maynard says he told Namath to disregard any suggestions about the offense made by head coach Weeb Ewbank, whom Maynard thought would simply disrupt the flow of the unit. He went so far as to claim that whenever Ewbank meddled with the offense, Namath would throw an interception. Instead, Maynard wanted Namath to check with him most of the time...and Namath seemed to comply; Namath, in that episode, says that he checked with Maynard on 75-80% of the plays. In the 1968 AFL Championship game against the defending American Football League champion Oakland Raiders, Maynard caught six passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The key play that set up the touchdown was a deep bomb that put the Jets inside Oakland's 10. Before the play, Maynard told Namath he had "a long one when you need it", and to watch the coverage. If Oakland went to a bump-and-run, then Namath should check to Maynard for the deep pass...and that's exactly what happened. Namath would then connect with Maynard on the game-winning 6-yd TD pass. Two weeks later, Maynard competed in the third AFL-NFL World Championship Game, (the first to be known as the "Super Bowl"), nursing an injury sustained in the Oakland clash. While he had no receptions that day, his presence on the field — he was double-covered for nearly the entire game — helped open up the Jets' offense and set the stage for the huge 16-7 upset victory over the Baltimore Colts. One of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire 10-year existence, Maynard was also one of only seven players who played their entire AFL careers with one team. Maynard finished his career with 633 receptions for 11,834 yards and 88 touchdowns. His 18.7 yards per catch is the highest for anyone with at least 600 receptions.