When legendary wide receiver Lionel Taylor heard the Broncos would be practicing next week in West Virginia, he was quick with a quip. “Let the guys see what the hillbillies live like,’’ Taylor said. Then he laughed.
Taylor, who grew up in West Virginia, knows well The Greenbriar in White Sulphur Springs, where Denver will practice between games Sunday at Tampa Bay and next Sunday at the New York Jets, is quite luxurious. “That’s the most beautiful place in the world,’’ said Taylor, who starred for the Broncos from 1960-66 and is in their Ring of Fame. Not as beautiful is where Taylor grew up 2 hours down the road in the tiny rural community of Lorado.
“It’s coal mining country,’’ he said. Taylor, who is Black, graduated from Buffalo High School in 1953, a year before the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in schools. However, it would not be until the 1960s that West Virginia schools were desegregated.
All-Black Buffalo High in Accoville, which now has a population of 596, was 3 miles away from all-white Man High School in Man, which has a population of 772. Taylor couldn’t attend Man High but said relations were fine then with those at the school. “We got along great,’’ he said.
“We scrimmaged against each other. We always said, ‘How come we can’t play together. We’d have a better team.
’ The Black people had good relations with the White people because everybody was working the coal mines and trying to put food on the table for their .