R.I.P., Jack Tatum

Don T. Lukbak's Avatar
Just saw this. Nowadays about the only way I could manage to hold still and watch a football game would be at gunpoint...but it wasn't always like that. This guy was "as fast as he needed to be" and he didn't have to stutter step and slow down to line up on his next victim. You young dudes really missed a treat if you never saw him play.

It's funny to envision the epidemic of early retirements by present day NFL pussies if somehow the Jack Tatum of 40 years ago could again take the field.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...r.html?sid=101

As far as I know he was also a good man, not just the most feared hitter in football.
boardman's Avatar
It's guys like that who make the Staubachs, Bradshaws and Fouts so much more impressive. That was the golden era of football before the multimillion dollar contracts. The athletic talent of some of the players today is amazing but hopefully will never overshadow the heart and tenacity of guys like Tatum.
TheDaliLama's Avatar
"....and a violent collision with New England Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley in a 1978 preseason game that severed two of Stingley's vertebrae and left him a quadriplegic.
The two never spoke to each other after that."

I also recall the goal line hit on Earl Campbell in which he ALMOST stopped Earl from going into the end zone.

HA!
dearhunter's Avatar
He was one of the great defensive backs.......I was at the game when I was young lad when he and Earl Campbell met head on at the goalline.......you could here it in the stands above the noise........Earl stopped in his tracks.....for a second
Don T. Lukbak's Avatar
I would've enjoyed seeing Joe Don Looney point to Jack at the goal line, then try to run over him. Be like a couple of those Big Horn rams butting heads. Joe Don was nuts.

(He perished on his Harley out to the Big Bend, where he had a trailer or teepee or something along those lines.)
O'Mike's Avatar
I was at the game when I was young lad when he and Earl Campbell met head on at the goalline.......you could here it in the stands above the noise........Earl stopped in his tracks.....for a second
You mean this hit?? At 0.44 in this video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH8470V2hHY
bigmofo's Avatar
RIP To one of the Greats!!!
You mean this hit?? At 0.44 in this video, Originally Posted by O'Mike
Yep that's the hit.
It reminds me of just how much of a BULL Earl was. He took a hit like that and still scored.
Jack Tatum was an Oiler briefly at the end of his career.
starflash's Avatar
A total assasin.........Every WR heard his footsteps on deep routes.....
sharkie's Avatar
If there is a hell, Jack Tatum is there today. Every autumn Sunday was Halloween for those ditch diggers in Oakland, an entire stadium full of losers who thought that faggot-ass pirate logo gave them power. The joke is on them. That eye patch? That's the eye you lost while driving drunk, remember? Losers.
Don T. Lukbak's Avatar
If there is a hell, Jack Tatum is there today. Every autumn Sunday was Halloween for those ditch diggers in Oakland, an entire stadium full of losers who thought that faggot-ass pirate logo gave them power. The joke is on them. That eye patch? That's the eye you lost while driving drunk, remember? Losers. Originally Posted by sharkie
Incoherency Award contending post, there buddy. Hope the hangover won't be too bad.

I never heard the first negative thing about Jack Tatum. Why do you consign him to hell?
O'Mike's Avatar
If there is a hell, Jack Tatum is there today. Every autumn Sunday was Halloween for those ditch diggers in Oakland, an entire stadium full of losers who thought that faggot-ass pirate logo gave them power. The joke is on them. That eye patch? That's the eye you lost while driving drunk, remember? Losers.

Well folks lets all give a big Laurel and Hardy welcome to Darryl Stingley.

Welcome to the boards glad you are feeling better.