Orr beats the 49ers for a touchdown.

Jimmy Orr played on the most star-studded offenses in NFL history. When you share an offensive huddle with five inner-circle Hall of Fame teammates — QB Johnny Unitas, WR Ray Berry, RB/WR Lenny Moore, OG Jim Parker, and TE John Mackey — you are going to be overshadowed.  Orr’s legacy has unfairly been limited to “that guy Earl Morrall missed on the flea flicker in Super Bowl III.” He played for the Baltimore Colts, a team in a time that is now a distant memory, cursed to playing second fiddle for both Colts fans and Marylanders.  So it is pretty easy to see how Orr has been forgotten over time,  especially given the lack of postseason success for his old Colts teams.

Orr played most of his career with a pair of Hall of Fame quarterbacks and earned the respect of two of the hardest-to-please leaders in pro football history.  A third Hall of Fame quarterback teammate said he had  as good a pair of hands as any player he’d ever seen. Orr immediately emerged as one of the game’s great deep threats and remained as one for a decade. He was the first player to lead the NFL in yards per reception three times in his career, a feat that has since been matched just twice.  He set the record for most career game-winning touchdown catches, and his 9 such scores stands as the most in history five decades later.   The right corner end zone at old Memorial Stadium was nicknamed Orrsville because of how often he made his living there, particularly in crucial moments.  That right corner of the end zone was on the third base line for the Orioles, and sloped a little downhill — which Orr used to his advantage.

This is the story of James Edward Orr, Jr.

Born in South Carolina, Orr starred at basketball and baseball in high school. After failing to stick at basketball at Clemson and Wake Forest, Orr transferred to Georgia, where he played well on some bad Bulldogs teams.  In 1957, he led the SEC in receptions — with sixteen! The NFL took only passing interest in him, as Orr was selected with a future pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 25th round.  At the end of a mediocre preseason in 1958, Orr — who played running back in college and was being worked at defensive back and wide receiver for the Rams — lit up the Steelers late in the game for an 87-yard touchdown catch.  Pittsburgh head coach Buddy Parker promptly traded for him, and Orr was moved full-time to wide receiver in Pittsburgh.  He began his career with Earl Morrall as his quarterback, but a couple of weeks later, Parker traded for legendary quarterback Bobby Layne; ^[1]Who, of course, had won a pair of titles with Parker in Detroit earlier in the decade. by mid-season, Layne and Orr formed a remarkable connection.  First was a breakout game against the Redskins, before a monster finish to the season.

In the final four games of his rookie year, Orr caught 18 passes for an 607 yards and 6 touchdowns, topping 100 yards and scoring in each game.  To put those numbers in perspective during a run-heavy era, no other receiver in the NFL even hit 400 receiving yards during those four weeks.  Another sign of the times: from 1952 to 1962, Orr was the only player in the NFL to record four straight games with 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.  And while games 9 through 12 are no longer the end of a season, Orr held the mark for most receiving yards in games 9 through 12 of an NFL season until 2012.  He even produced the rare 200-yard receiving game, and it came with Night Train Lane covering him.

Those performances ^[2]Plus his role as the team’s full-time punter. made Orr an easy choice for both the UPI and the Associated Press Rookie of the Year awards, as he finished third in the NFL in receiving yards (in between a pair of future teammates).  He averaged 27.6 yards per catch in ’58, a high-water mark that remains the single-season NFL record among players with more than 2 receptions per game. Unfortunately, a preseason injury in 1959 limited Orr, but he still led the Steelers in receiving yards and made the Pro Bowl.  In 1960, Orr and teammates Buddy Dial and Preston Carpenter formed one of the most dangerous pass-catching combinations in the NFL: all three players topped 17 yards per catch.  The Steelers defense struggled however, and the team finished with a losing record.

Orr, who was studying to become a lawyer at local Duquesne in his free time, had decided to retire.  And with consecutive losing seasons, Pittsburgh looked to rebuild the roster.  The Steelers were able to send Orr, defensive tackle Joe Lewis, and linebacker Dick Campbell to Baltimore for All-Pro defensive tackle Gene Lipscomb and longtime center Buzz Nutter. For Baltimore, it would turn out to be a great trade — even though neither Lewis nor Campbell ever started a game for the Colts. Orr, who until he was traded in July didn’t train for the 1961 season, was happy to head back to warmer weather and chose to stay in the NFL and play for the Colts.

There wasn’t an obvious spot in the lineup for Orr in Baltimore: the Colts had fullback Joe “the Jet” Perry ^[3]Yes, the 49ers legend did a two-year tour in Baltimore near the end of his career., Lenny Moore and Alex Hawkins as receiving options out of the backfield, and stars Raymond Berry and Jim Mutscheller at wide receiver.  Orr, still working himself into shape and deep on the depth chart, finished the year with just 357 yards. But Mutscheller retired after the season, paving the way for Orr to become a regular part of the Colts brilliant offense.

In 1962, Orr overshadowed future Hall of Famers Berry and Moore, leading the team in receptions (55), receiving yards (974), and touchdowns (11). In 1963, John Mackey joined the group, and he, Orr, and Berry all finished with 700-730 yards as the Colts lead the NFL in passing yards. In ’64, Baltimore had an all-time great passing attack: the Colts scored 428 points, at the time the third most in NFL history.  The Colts led the NFL in total yards, passing yards, and yards per attempt. Baltimore went 12-2 and Unitas was named MVP. And on this explosive Colts, it was Orr — and not Berry, Moore, or Mackey — who led the Colts in receiving yards.  Orr also captured his second yards per reception (21.7) this season. In ’65, Orr again outgained the Colts three Hall of Fame receivers and caught a team-high 10 touchdowns; for his efforts, Orr was named a first-team All-Pro.

In ’66, Orr was hampered by leg injuries by still managed 618 yards and 3 touchdowns.  In ’67, Orr injured his shoulder on opening day, although that was after he caught one more long touchdown — this one a 55-yarder against the Falcons.  It would be his only game of the season.

Then, in 1968, Orr was reunited with Earl Morrall, the Steelers opening day quarterback in 1958 before the trade for Layne. With Unitas injured, Orr, Mackey, Willie Richardson, and Morrall formed a great passing offense as part of one of the top teams of the decade.  Orr led the Colts in receiving yards and, at the age of 33, once again led the NFL in yards per reception; to this day, he is still the second oldest player to win the yards per reception crown. ^[4]In 1996, a 35-year-old Henry Ellard pulled off the feat. Baltimore went 13-1 and made the Super Bowl, before famously losing to the Jets in Super Bowl III — when Morrall missed an open Orr to end the first half.

And while that misread by Morrall may have formed Orr’s legacy, it shouldn’t have.  Instead, Orr should be remembered for his penchant for game-winning touchdowns. As a rookie, Orr recorded the first two of his game-winning touchdowns in back-to-back weeks during his hot stretch. In week 9, the Cardinals and Steelers entered the 4th quarter tied at 20. Then, with less than six minutes remaining, Bobby Layne threw a 78-yard touchdown pass to Orr to provide the final score of 27-20. A week later against the Chicago Bears, Orr had a monster fourth quarter. He caught the game-winner: with the game tied in the 4th quarter, Orr caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from Layne to give Pittsburgh a 17-10 lead. He then caught a 59-yard pass to set up an insurance touchdown for the Steelers.

Orr would go on to have a remarkable 7 game-winning touchdown catches in Baltimore.

• In 1961 against the 49ers, Orr made a dramatic game-winning touchdown. With the Colts trailing San Francisco, 17-13, and with just a little over one minute to go, Johnny Unitas hit Orr for a 41-yard touchdown pass that Orr bobbled and grabbed into the end zone.
• In the 1962 season opener, Unitas led a dramatic comeback against the Rams. Baltimore trailed 27-16 with five minutes to go, but Unitas hit Berry for a touchdown, the Colts recovered a Los Angeles fumble, and then Unitas hit Orr for a 14-yard touchdown score to give Baltimore a shocking 30-27 win.
• A couple of weeks later against the Redskins, Orr caught touchdown passes of 11 and 59 yards in the 2nd quarter. Then, as Baltimore trailed 21-20 in the 4th quarter, Orr caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter to put the Colts ahead for good; he finished the day with 6 catches for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• In September 1963, Orr got the 49ers again. San Francisco took a 14-10 lead into the 4th quarter against the Colts, when Orr caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Unitas to give the Colts the win.
• The wildest 4th quarter of Orr’s career would come later that season against the Vikings.  Minnesota led the Colts, 20-16, at the end of the third quarter, and put another touchdown on the board to take a 27-16 lead. The Colts responded with a touchdown, and then Tommy Mason rushed 70 yards for another touchdown to once again up the lead to 11 points, 34-23. But Unitas and Orr would connect for a 60-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 4, and the Colts regained possession at their own 12-yard line with just 1:10 left to go. Unitas drove Baltimore down the field, and then hit Orr for a 13-yard touchdown to win the game with just five seconds remaining, 37-34.
• In 1965, Orr would victimize the Rams yet again. After scoring 17 unanswered points to take a 20-14 lead into the 4th quarter, Unitas and Orr would slam the door on Los Angeles. First, they connected for a 15-yard touchdown that gave Baltimore a 21-20 lead that would be all they would need. They also connected for a 25-yard touchdown near the end of the game to provide the final margin of 35-20.
• Finally, in November 1965, the 3-6 Eagles led the 8-1 Colts by a 24-20 score entering the 4th quarter. Orr made his only reception of the day worthwhile: a 22-yard game-winning touchdown which gave Baltimore a 27-24 lead. It was the last game-winning touchdown of his career, but by far the most dramatic. An injury early in the game sent him to the hospital in the third quarter, but Orr quietly returned in the final frame to produce the game-winning score.

During his 13-year NFL career, Orr caught 25 touchdowns in the first half of games, the 15th most of any player during that era. But he caught 41 in the second halves of games, a mark topped by only Lance Alworth from 1958 to 1970.  Most remarkably, Orr caught 16 go-ahead touchdowns in the second half of games: not only was that the most of his era, it remains in the top five in NFL history with a quartet of Hall of Fame wide receivers.   Orr led the Colts in receiving touchdowns in the ’60s, and ranked second to only Orr in terms of yards and yards per game.  Playing with some of the best talent in pro football history, Orr distinguished himself as the man who could take the top off of the defense and come up with the game-winning touchdown.  That’s a fine legacy for James Edward Orr, Jr.