Don Maynard, a wide receiver who played in two of professional football's landmark games during his Hall of Fame career and son of Texas, died on January 10 at the age of 86.
The history of the New York Jets is incomplete without Don Maynard. The Jets said that he left a Super Bowl champion when he came to the franchise. He was the record holder, Hall of Famer, and forever our No. 13 on the field. He was a family man who stayed true to his roots and brought a Texas cowboy to New York.
He was close to the Jets throughout his life. Our thoughts are with his family. We will all miss him.
Even though the Jets have gotten more pass happy in the half-century since he left New York, Maynard is still their all-time leader in catches, receiving yards, and touchdown, all still by wide margins.
Maynard was a huge part of the Jets getting there, with six catches for 118 yards and a pair of touchdown against the Oakland Raiders in the 1968 AFL Championship Game. He had an average of 22.8 yards per catch that year.
Maynard was drafted by the Giants out of UTEP in the ninth round in 1957, and his No. 13 is retired by the Jets. Maynard was the Giants' punt returner in the first overtime game in the history of the NFL, which catapulted the league onto its trajectory to be America's top sports league. Maynard returned to the Super Bowl to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "The Greatest Game Ever played."
Maynard joined the New York Jets in the first season of the American Football League. He stayed with the team that became the Jets through 1972 as Joe Namath's top target, before moving on to the Houston Texans and the St. Louis Cardinals. Maynard was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Charlie Joiner broke Maynard's professional yardage record when he reached 10,000 yards. Maynard is 31st on the all-time list, right between Antonio Gates and Calvin Johnson.
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