Steve Tasker

By Paulie Knep
Love Of Sports Correspondent

Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly, Cornelius Bennett.

There were a number of great football players on the Buffalo Bill teams of the early ’90s that appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls. However, only one of them was unequivocally the best player I’ve seen at his position – and that was Steve Tasker.

Tasker was five-foot-nothing and a hundred-and-nothing when the Houston Oilers drafted him out of Northwestern University in the ninth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. After receiving minimal playing time during his first year in Houston, the young receiver was placed on waivers where the Bills snatched him up.

He found a home in Buffalo, and over the next 12 seasons became the best special teams player in the NFL. Special teams players rarely garner much attention from the media and fans, especially gunners like Tasker who don’t kick or receive. But, he wasn’t your ordinary special teams player.

Time and time again, he’d be the first player down-field on punt and kickoff coverage. He developed a reputation around the league as a playmaker, and teams regularly double-teamed him, but it didn’t seem to matter. Through sheer determination, he fought his way down the field and like a guided missile, fearlessly zeroed in on his target.

For a man weighing just 185 pounds in his pro days, Tasker packed quite a wallop. His kamikaze-like collisions with return men forced numerous fumbles and always pumped up teammates. He used his remarkable agility to down punts deep inside the opponent’s territory and was a constant threat to block punts.

With a little assistance from ESPN’s Chris Berman, who referred to him as Steve “a Tisker a” Tasker, he became the most popular special teams player in the league. Fans focused on #89 whenever the Bills special teams were on the field. Nobody appreciated him more than Bills fans, who recognized how valuable he was and admired the tenacity he brought to the field.

Coaches and players around the league took notice of Tasker’s contributions to the Bills’ success. He was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times, including six consecutive seasons from 1990-95. And in ’93, he became the first primarily special teams player to win the game’s MVP award.

Tasker hung up his spikes for good after the ’97 season. During his 12-year career, the diminutive receiver amassed 204 tackles and blocked seven punts, though statistics hardly captured the impact he had on a game. 

His former teammate, Jim Kelly, once said Tasker was the best special teams player he’d ever seen, and many fans believe he deserves to join Kelly in the Hall of Fame. Not bad for the 226th pick in the draft.

Tasker also changed the way fans view the game. Through his stellar play, he demonstrated that special teams could be the difference between winning and losing a game.

That’s why we’re giving Steve Tasker some Old School Love today!