Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Extra Points

Articles from around the Web

Need Help with KUBIAK or Premium?

blog advertising is good for you


27 Jul 2010

Jack Tatum Passes Away

Former Raiders safety Jack Tatum has passed away. Tatum, a three-time Pro Bowler, died of a heart attack at his home on Tuesday. He was 61 years old.

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 27 Jul 2010

16 comments, Last at 30 Jul 2010, 5:38pm by RickD

Comments

1
by ChicagoRaider :: Tue, 07/27/2010 - 2:19pm

A sad day. The Raiders need guys like him now.

2
by Raiderjoe :: Tue, 07/27/2010 - 2:34pm

R.i.p. Jack Tatum . Tremendous player on great Raiders tesms

3
by libelec (not verified) :: Tue, 07/27/2010 - 2:41pm

He'll have to break spinal chords of angels now...

5
by ChicagoRaider :: Tue, 07/27/2010 - 4:25pm

Jack Tatum is not the only football player to inflict terrible injury on another player. But he was not apologetic for playing as hard as possible on every play. So, yes, his much-delayed comment about Stingley proves that he could not grow into apologizing after many years. That will probably keep him out of the hall of fame.

But he was a great player. Nobody mentions that Eric Berry has two Jack Tatum trophies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchdown_Club_of_Columbus

8
by Mr Shush :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 4:39am

Tatum retired before I was born, so I'm going solely on what I can glean from the internet here, but I find it pretty difficult to see how his playing career could merit Hall of Fame consideration, regardless of off-field issues. He only went to three pro-bowls, and was never first team all pro. That's only a Hall of Fame resume if you go on to be a really, really good defensive co-ordinator and spend half a century in the league.

9
by Raiderjoe :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 7:01am

Tatum not belogn in Hall of fame. Not that gerat of player. Most fmaous play he involved in was Immacluate rception. On 4th and 10 at end of game T. Bradsshaw throw pass to F. Fuqua. Tatum delievr big hit on Tatum. ball went flying other direction and Franco Harris scooped up and ran for winnign score. If Tatum knocked ball down with one of his hands game would have endned. Raiders liekly going on to beat undefeated Dolphisn week after.

11
by ChicagoRaider :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 3:21pm

The NFL site has done a good job on this story. They have a video there from a show they did on the most feared hitters in NFL history. He was #6. Of course, for the commentators, they chose people who thought he should be #1. So it is Jack Tatum's greatest hits, so to speak. (My favorite was the Earl Campbell goal line collision)

If there is an argument that you were the hardest hitter ever, there is an argument you belong in the hall of fame. That is what the hall of fame is for, greatness.

12
by Raiderjoe :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 7:06pm

if Tatum get in someday not going to complain. But rather see some other Raiders in ebfore Tatum.
most feared tackler hitter ever saw in colelege game was guy on Fresbo State Bulldogs team. Might have played on final David Carr team and then couple yeras after that. Think got sispended after jitting punt returner trying to field punt. FSU guy didnt give punt returner chance to field it and FSu guy blew him up. Player like that all the time very viciuous.

13
by bingo762 :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 7:59pm

He jitted on the punt returner?!? Gross

15
by RickD :: Fri, 07/30/2010 - 5:33pm

I would take the apologies for Tatum more seriously if Stingley hadn't been paralyzed in a freakin' pre-season game. Rather than apologize for ending Stingley's career (and ultimately, creating a medical situation that ended Stingley's life at the age of 55), Tatum wrote "Some Call Me Assassin" to make money off his notoriety (note to sportscasters: this is the correct usage of the word, it's not simply a synonym for 'fame').

Among NFL players, Tatum was the worst human being ever.

In contrast, following Stingley's paralysis John Madden stopped coaching. He spent a lot of time visiting Stingley (who was paralyzed in Oakland and stayed out there) and decided he couldn't ever feel the same about coaching NFL football.

Stingley was at least as good as Stanley Morgan and if they'd had both of them at WR, the '78 Patriots might not have lost in the first round of the playoffs (Chuck Fairbanks jumping ship didn't help).

4
by andrew :: Tue, 07/27/2010 - 3:57pm

I really hate that he is only remembered for this. Just about every obituary is gonna lead off with it, it'll probably be on his tombstone.

6
by Dean :: Tue, 07/27/2010 - 4:40pm

Hopefully, his family will have some say on his tombstone and it won't mention it.

7
by Bright Blue Shorts :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 2:21am

Unfortunately everybody remembers it because he was always so adamant that he had nothing to apologise for. And within the rules of the game, at the time, I believe there was nothing dirty about what he did. But thirty years on, you sort of hope that he could have realised that a game of football was a lot less significant than showing a little humanity and sympathy towards Stingley. I doubt he even needed to make it an apology just show that he understood the difference that his actions had made on Stingley's life. Perhaps he felt defensive or angry or unable to back down once he'd started down that route but it's his legacy because of it.

10
by PatsFan :: Wed, 07/28/2010 - 7:35am

Exactly. Stingley and his family never faulted Tatum for the hit and said, as you did, that it was a legal hit and was within the rules and spirit of the game at that time.

It was the aftermath, including Tatum trying to use Stingley as part of a promo stunt for Tatum's first book.

Contrast that to Coach Madden's behavior in the aftermath.

16
by RickD :: Fri, 07/30/2010 - 5:38pm

I wouldn't say it was within the spirit of the game. Clocking a defenseless receiver in a pre-season game? Even in the 1970s, that was not normal behavior.

14
by Revenge of the NURBS (not verified) :: Thu, 07/29/2010 - 12:18pm

Well hey, RaiderJoe remembers him for allowing the Immaculate Reception because he went for the big hit instead of the form tackle. That's an improvement over "broke a dude's spine and then acted like a d-ck about it."

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
To skip this, please log in.