http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d819534bb/article/former-raiders-safety-tatum-dies-at-age-61 RIP Jack
I wonder if Stingley is up their kicking his ass right now. One of the most dangerous hitters to have every played in the NFL. RIP Assassin
Of all the people NFLN has ever interviewed for any of these programs, George Atkinson is by far the most annoying to me.
Steve Sabol ranked Tatum's hit on Earl Campbell as the 4th greatest hit ever. 5. Steve Atwater on Christian Okoye, 9/17/90 4. Tatum on Campbell, 11/11/79 3. Leonard Marshall on Joe Montana, 1/20/91 2. Mike Stratton on Keith Lincoln, 12/26/64 1. Chuck Bednarik on Frank Gifford, 11/20/60
Stuff happens (Stingley), but Tatum was a major sc*mbag who intentionally wanted to cripple people. His wish came true, and I won't be shedding any tears for some Raiders scuzz any time soon. It's the nature of the game, understood. We all want our D to kill and crush everyone (me included), but there's a line in the sand. RIP, eh, I guess.
Take away the Stingley hit and Tatum is in the Hall of Fame today. He was a great RB and DB at Passaic HS and was an All American there and at OSU. One of the most ferocious hitters of all-time. He didn't start playing football until his soph year in hs. He seemed very frayed in later years and I'm sure much of that was due to the stress and strain of the Stingley incident. RIP Assassin and Stingley.
Still doubtful. He didn't have enough All Pro and Pro Bowl honors. I don't think he was any better than Cliff Harris, Donnie Shell, Mike Wagner, Jake Scott, Dick Anderson, Johnny Robinson, or Bill Bradley. Years in which these players were recognized with some sort of All-NFL, All-AFL, or All-conference selection, followed by the number of times the player was a consensus All-Pro- Tatum (1971-80)- 5 and 0 Harris (1970-79)- 6 and 3 Shell (1974-87)- 5 and 3 Wagner (1971-80)- 4 and 0 Scott (1970-78)- 5 and 3 Anderson (1968-77)- 3 and 1 Robinson (1960-71)- 8 and 5 Bradley (1969-77)- 4 and 2 Also, the hit on Tatum was legal and I'm sure all the Hall of Fame voters know that. Oh, and Harris, Robinson, and Shell have already been finalists for the Hall. They are probably the three biggest Hall snubs of the players listed above. I think those three were more complete safeties than Tatum. If there is any one play that kept Tatum from the Hall it may not be the legal hit on Stingley, but rather the Immaculate Reception hit on Frenchy Fuqua. Instead of playing the ball, Tatum opted to deliver a crushing hit and the ball ricocheted to Franco Harris. Had Tatum been able to get a hand on the ball and knock it down the game would have been over because that was 4th down. In other words, it was a dumb football play on Tatum's part.
You watch the hits Tatum used to deliver and it really illustrates some of the differences in the game between the old school and new school NFL. Most of the hits in that clip today would earn suspensions in todays game. And thats not a knock on Tatum, in his day most of those hits were legal, about the only exception was the punch he threw.
No doubt that there were other safeties in the same era that had more Pro Bowls and All Pro honors than Tatum. However part of that was due to him never being the same after the hit. It completely changed him as a football player and person. And the Hall of Fame voters knew it was a legal hit however it was the perception among the popular media and fans everywhere that he was some kind of thug and dirty player and this didn't help his cause for the HOF. Not sure if the Immaculate Reception play necessarily kept him out of the HOF. It was not a good football play however it was his 2nd year in the league and he made 3 straight Pro Bowls after that season so it was a little too early in his career to define it.
Him and George Atkinson were the two most feared Safetys in the NFL during that era. It was a different game back then as well. No 5yd chuck rule, closelines, horsecollars and headhunting were allowed. I believe his nn was "The Assassin" Tatum cause when he hit you, it felt like he slugged you with a blackjack. His partner's nn was "Dirty George" and he used to pad his forearms with extra tape to make them feel like iron bars.
Talking about kings of the clothesline when they were legal, noone was more vicious with those than Nighttrain Lane. There's a reason in the "good ole days" of the NFL/AFL there were no small receivers, their survival rate would have been zero.
There were some. Tommy McDonald is a Hall of Fame flanker who played from 1957-68. He was 5'9". Elbert (Golden Wheels) Dubenion (Bills 1960-68) was an All-AFL performer several years. He was 5'11". Ed Bell had an 86-game career in the 1970s mostly with the Jets. He was 5'10", 160. 5'9" Mel Gray (Cards 1971-82) was a very good receiver. He had multiple All-Pro seasons. Those are a few of the exceptions, but you are correct- most of the receivers were tall back then.
The Stingley hit occurred in the preseason of what was to be Tatum's 8th season. He only played 10 seasons. Therefore, roughly 70% of his career had been played prior to the Stingley hit. He was already known as a dirty player before that hit. "If there is any one play that kept Tatum from the Hall it may not be..." I really do not believe any single play has kept Tatum out of the HOF. I was simply stating that if there was one play that kept him out it probably would have been the Immaculate Reception because that was a dumb football play.
The Immaculate Reception play [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xMDIcsUMmA&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
I don't buy that at all. He was already late in his career when it happened. Tatum used that hit to try to make money for the rest of his life. He never "reached out" to Stingley until he needed to sell copies of his book. He tried to "reach out" to Stingley again in the 2000's, but they felt it was just another instance of trying to exploit it.
Good riddance to this sack of shit. Paralyzed a guy in the preseason on a late hit, never once visited him in the hospital, never apologized, and like CJLang says only reached out when he was trying to turn a profit. Enjoy hell you douchebag.
