Jack Tatum, RIP

[GA Russell]

Jack Tatum has died of a heart attack at age 61.

I always thought it extraordinarily poor judgment to title his book "They Call Me Assassin", considering the circumstances.

I believe that John Madden and others always said that his hit on Stingley was perfectly clean and not out of the ordinary. It was a freak accident, not the result of dirty play.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/hard-hitting-former-raider-jack-tatum-dies-at-61/article1653489/

[Matthew]

Watched Tatum lay out Chargers many a time during his heyday. Too bad about "the hit" and his death. That Soul Patrol defensive backfield the Raiders had at the time was amazing, and amazingly brutal -- Jack Tatum, Willie Brown, George Atkinson, and Skip Thomas; I don't think too many others have ever surpassed it. Of course the rules on what the defense could do were a lot laxer at the time also.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Matthew

[Jazzmoose]

Yeah, it was a completely different game back then. They hadn't quite figured out that hindering the defense and giving the offense free rein was the way to higher revenue.

[BruceH]

...Or that multiple concussions can shorten your life span. Oh, wait, I guess they still haven't figured that out. Or maybe they just don't care.

[Matthew]

...Or that multiple concussions can shorten your life span. Oh, wait, I guess they still haven't figured that out. Or maybe they just don't care.

Oh, the NFL cares a lot, their putting posters in locker rooms, this will, undoubtedly, make a huge difference!

[AllenLowe]

my impression from reading the news today was that he was unnecessarily vicious as a hitter - is this inaccurate?

[Matthew]

my impression from reading the news today was that he was unnecessarily vicious as a hitter - is this inaccurate?

Not compared to George Atkinson, who went out of his way to hurt people. Anyone remember GA's forearm to Russ Francis' nose? Tatum just hit people hard, very hard, and that was common in those days, in some ways, the Steeler db's were just as bad as the Raiders.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

my impression from reading the news today was that he was unnecessarily vicious as a hitter - is this inaccurate?

judge fer yersef ... he was tough as hell at The Ohio State (playing under Woody might have had something to do with it) and the Raiders were perfect for him - he had that Ben Davidson spear going as well as the undercut when he was out of hammering position. The fact that he supposedly never reached out to Stingley was piss poor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1lYWg0_Yz8

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Stingley was paralyzed in a meaningless pre-season game on a meaningless pass thrown well over everyone's head with no chance for Stingley or any Patriot receiver to catch it.

Tatum hit Stingley to hurt him. Period. In his book, he bragged about how he always hit everyone with the intention to knock them out. The Raiders DBs had a pool which they contributed to each week. To win the pool, you had to knock someone out. Tatum won it more than anyone.

As Bill Lee said about George Steinbrenner, if hell freezes over, he'll be skating.

[AllenLowe]

well, then, the fault lies most with a league that tolerates such things because it sells tickets. Not to mention the officials.

[Jazzmoose]

Of course Tatum hit Stingley with the intent of hurting him. On defense, you want to put as much pain into the offense is you can, to give them something to think about next time. Maybe football is different now; I don't play it (of course) and rarely watch it. But that is the way the game was played back then. However, "hurt" means "cause pain", not "paralyze". If that's too callous and "evil" an approach, maybe you should avoid the sport.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Jazzmoose

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Of course Tatum hit Stingley with the intent of hurting him. On defense, you want to put as much pain into the offense is you can, to give them something to think about next time. Maybe football is different now; I don't play it (of course) and rarely watch it. But that is the way the game was played back then. However, "hurt" means "cause pain", not "paralyze". If that's too callous and "evil" an approach, maybe you should avoid the sport.

If the game was during the regular season, I could see it. If the pass was catchable, even in a pre-season game, I could see it. But an un-catchable pass in a pre-season game? Totally unnecessary... and points to a particularly nasty person. Football has nothing to do with it in this case.

[Randy Twizzle]

I remember seeing him when he was an all state running back at Passaic high school in the late 60s.