The Assassin's Gone.
Hello again everyone. I trust that everyone is getting by (I'd say doing well, but unless you've just hit the lottery, I don't know too many folks who are doing well in this economy.)
Today brings a sad post to the Rant. Yesterday, 28 July 2010, one of the truly great safeties in the history of the NFL passed away. I speak, of course, of Jack "The Assassin" Tatum. Mr. Tatum (and if you ever saw him play, you had better call him "Mr"!!) died of a massive heart attack in an Oakland, CA hospital. According to various reports, Mr Tatum had also been battling diabetes and other health issues at the time of his death.
Born John David Tatum on 18 November 1948 in Cherryville, NC, the young Mr Tatum grew up in Passaic, NJ. He didn't get involved in football until he started playing for Passaic High School. Mr. Tatum was gifted enough to be recruited by Ohio State's legendary Woody Hayes. Hayes recruited Tatum as a running back. Another legendary coach, Lou Holtz, convinced Hayes to move Tatum to defensive back where Tatum excelled. While playing DB for Ohio State, Tatum became a two time All American, helped OSU to a National Championship in 1968, and was named National Defensive Player of the Year in 1970. As a tribute to the ferocity of his hits, Ohio State gives the Jack Tatum Hit of the Week Award to one of its players after every game.
Jack Tatum was the 19th pick (overall) of the 1971 NFL draft. He was taken by the Oakland Raiders where he encountered another coaching legend, John Madden. From his first game in a Raider uniform, Tatum began to establish his reputation as a hard hitter. In that first game, against the then Baltimore Colts, Tatum knocked out two Colts tight ends (not one, but TWO, and in his first NFL game no less!!!!) Tatum went on to play 9 seasons with the Raiders. In that period, he started 106 of 120 games, had 30 interceptions, and helped the Raiders to win their first Superbowl title 32-14 over the Minnesota Vikings on 9 January 1977. Tatum played his 10th and final season with the Houston Oilers in 1980.
During his time with the Raiders, Tatum was also involved in two of the most memorable plays in NFL history. The legendary "Immaculate Reception", and the tragic paralyzing of New England Patriots wide receiver Daryl Stingley.
The hit on Stingley took place during a preseason game between the Raiders and the Patriots at Oakland Coliseum on 12 August 1978. On the play in question, Stingley had cut inside and lunged to attempt to catch a pass. Tatum, who was coming the opposite way at full speed, met Stingley while Stingley was off balance and leaning forward. The ensuing hit broke Stingley's fourth and fifth vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord, leaving Stingley a quadriplegic. Over time, Stingley regained limited use of his body, but was wheelchair bound until his death in 2007. Despite the intervening years, Tatum never apologized for the hit, and Stingley and Tatum never reconciled. According to sources close to Tatum, the failure to apologize to Stingley and the realization by Tatum that he ended another player's career and nearly killed him, had a great impact on Tatum, driving him to become a near recluse for a number of years.
The other legendary play Tatum was involved in was the "Immaculate Reception." The play took place on 23 December 1972 during an AFC Divisional playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium. The Raiders had just completed a scoring drive to give them the lead 7-6. The Steelers were facing a 4 and 10 from their own 40 with 22 seconds left on the clock and no time outs. Bradshaw took the snap from center, dropped back, and under great pressure, threw the ball to Steelers halfback Frenchy Fuqua who was at the Raiders' 35 yard line. Tatum met Fuqua at the same time as the ball arrived. The ball bounced off Fuqua or Tatum or both (depending on who you were rooting for) and was caught by Steelers running back Franco Harris just before the ball hit the ground. Harris then ran the ball in for a touchdown giving the Steelers a 12-7 lead. The play was initially signaled a touchdown by one official and after a huddle by the officials and a phone call by the Referee to clarify the rules, the play was confirmed as a touchdown. The Steelers kicked the extra point and went on to win their first playoff victory ever by a score of 13 to 7. Neither Tatum nor Fuqua has ever stated specifically what happened during the play. Tatum claimed that he didn't know what happened, that he was just trying to tear Fuqua's head off and, for his part, Fuqua has claimed, "I know exactly (what happened on the play). What happened on that play was truly immaculate." NFL Films has called the Immaculate Reception the greatest, and most controversial, play in NFL history. To this day, John Madden, then coach of the Raiders, claims that the ball hit the ground before Harris caught it. (For a full and detailed description of the Immaculate Reception see the Wikipedia entry for it, here.
In his later years, Tatum battled diabetes, losing several toes and eventually a leg to the disease. Tatum also set up a charitable foundation in the Columbus, OH area to help kids fight diabetes and had, up until his death, raised over $1.4 million.
Tatum was also a published author. He wrote three books detailing his career, “They Call Me Assassin” in 1980, “They Still Call Me Assassin: Here We Go Again” in 1989, and “Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin” in 1996.
Mr. Tatum leaves behind a wife, Denise, and three children.
Jack Tatum was 61.
As always, I am Chuck and this has been my rant. My sincerest condolences go out to the Tatum family during this sad time.
Today brings a sad post to the Rant. Yesterday, 28 July 2010, one of the truly great safeties in the history of the NFL passed away. I speak, of course, of Jack "The Assassin" Tatum. Mr. Tatum (and if you ever saw him play, you had better call him "Mr"!!) died of a massive heart attack in an Oakland, CA hospital. According to various reports, Mr Tatum had also been battling diabetes and other health issues at the time of his death.
Born John David Tatum on 18 November 1948 in Cherryville, NC, the young Mr Tatum grew up in Passaic, NJ. He didn't get involved in football until he started playing for Passaic High School. Mr. Tatum was gifted enough to be recruited by Ohio State's legendary Woody Hayes. Hayes recruited Tatum as a running back. Another legendary coach, Lou Holtz, convinced Hayes to move Tatum to defensive back where Tatum excelled. While playing DB for Ohio State, Tatum became a two time All American, helped OSU to a National Championship in 1968, and was named National Defensive Player of the Year in 1970. As a tribute to the ferocity of his hits, Ohio State gives the Jack Tatum Hit of the Week Award to one of its players after every game.
Jack Tatum was the 19th pick (overall) of the 1971 NFL draft. He was taken by the Oakland Raiders where he encountered another coaching legend, John Madden. From his first game in a Raider uniform, Tatum began to establish his reputation as a hard hitter. In that first game, against the then Baltimore Colts, Tatum knocked out two Colts tight ends (not one, but TWO, and in his first NFL game no less!!!!) Tatum went on to play 9 seasons with the Raiders. In that period, he started 106 of 120 games, had 30 interceptions, and helped the Raiders to win their first Superbowl title 32-14 over the Minnesota Vikings on 9 January 1977. Tatum played his 10th and final season with the Houston Oilers in 1980.
During his time with the Raiders, Tatum was also involved in two of the most memorable plays in NFL history. The legendary "Immaculate Reception", and the tragic paralyzing of New England Patriots wide receiver Daryl Stingley.
The hit on Stingley took place during a preseason game between the Raiders and the Patriots at Oakland Coliseum on 12 August 1978. On the play in question, Stingley had cut inside and lunged to attempt to catch a pass. Tatum, who was coming the opposite way at full speed, met Stingley while Stingley was off balance and leaning forward. The ensuing hit broke Stingley's fourth and fifth vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord, leaving Stingley a quadriplegic. Over time, Stingley regained limited use of his body, but was wheelchair bound until his death in 2007. Despite the intervening years, Tatum never apologized for the hit, and Stingley and Tatum never reconciled. According to sources close to Tatum, the failure to apologize to Stingley and the realization by Tatum that he ended another player's career and nearly killed him, had a great impact on Tatum, driving him to become a near recluse for a number of years.
The other legendary play Tatum was involved in was the "Immaculate Reception." The play took place on 23 December 1972 during an AFC Divisional playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium. The Raiders had just completed a scoring drive to give them the lead 7-6. The Steelers were facing a 4 and 10 from their own 40 with 22 seconds left on the clock and no time outs. Bradshaw took the snap from center, dropped back, and under great pressure, threw the ball to Steelers halfback Frenchy Fuqua who was at the Raiders' 35 yard line. Tatum met Fuqua at the same time as the ball arrived. The ball bounced off Fuqua or Tatum or both (depending on who you were rooting for) and was caught by Steelers running back Franco Harris just before the ball hit the ground. Harris then ran the ball in for a touchdown giving the Steelers a 12-7 lead. The play was initially signaled a touchdown by one official and after a huddle by the officials and a phone call by the Referee to clarify the rules, the play was confirmed as a touchdown. The Steelers kicked the extra point and went on to win their first playoff victory ever by a score of 13 to 7. Neither Tatum nor Fuqua has ever stated specifically what happened during the play. Tatum claimed that he didn't know what happened, that he was just trying to tear Fuqua's head off and, for his part, Fuqua has claimed, "I know exactly (what happened on the play). What happened on that play was truly immaculate." NFL Films has called the Immaculate Reception the greatest, and most controversial, play in NFL history. To this day, John Madden, then coach of the Raiders, claims that the ball hit the ground before Harris caught it. (For a full and detailed description of the Immaculate Reception see the Wikipedia entry for it, here.
In his later years, Tatum battled diabetes, losing several toes and eventually a leg to the disease. Tatum also set up a charitable foundation in the Columbus, OH area to help kids fight diabetes and had, up until his death, raised over $1.4 million.
Tatum was also a published author. He wrote three books detailing his career, “They Call Me Assassin” in 1980, “They Still Call Me Assassin: Here We Go Again” in 1989, and “Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin” in 1996.
Mr. Tatum leaves behind a wife, Denise, and three children.
Jack Tatum was 61.
As always, I am Chuck and this has been my rant. My sincerest condolences go out to the Tatum family during this sad time.
posted by Chuck | 06:30
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