Former Raiders safety Tatum dies at age 61

[BleedingBLKnBlue]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d819534bb/article/former-raiders-safety-tatum-dies-at-age-61

Sad but man can that guy hit!

[dixontosanders]

Sad, but theres already a thread about it and it's in the wrong forum lol.

But welcome.

[The Saltman]

who?

[Delhommey]

How nice. He outlived Darryl Stingley by 3 years.

[BleedingBLKnBlue]

Shot heard around the world - they'll probably still beef it up in the next...

[Jangler]

who?

I'm sure he was thinking about you.

[Proudiddy]

I always thought he'd go out early b/c he acted like a dick towards Stingley even after the hit. Nothing wrong with wanting to murder people on the field, it's part of the mentality you have to have - but if you almost actually do it, I think you should be remorseful for ruining someone's entire life... Tatum was totally heartless about it and never apologized. Not really sad about this one...

[DudeNamedJeremy]

he's a buckeye..you have to love him

[Anybodyhome]

I always thought he'd go out early b/c he acted like a dick towards Stingley even after the hit. Nothing wrong with wanting to murder people on the field, it's part of the mentality you have to have - but if you almost actually do it, I think you should be remorseful for ruining someone's entire life... Tatum was totally heartless about it and never apologized. Not really sad about this one...

Another person speaking from sheer ignorance of the facts. But please don't let those facts get in the way of your judgment- nice to know how you revel in the passing of another human being...

Despite Tatum's failure to show remorse, former Ohio State teammate John Hicks said Tatum was haunted by the play.

"It was tough on him, too," Hicks said. "He wasn't the same person after that. For years he was almost a recluse."

Tatum had said he tried to visit Stingley at an Oakland hospital shortly after the collision but was turned away by Stingley's family members.

"It's not so much that Darryl doesn't want to, but it's the people around him," Tatum told the Oakland Tribune in 2004. "So we haven't been able to get through that. Every time we plan something, it gets messed up. Getting to him or him getting back to me, it never happens."

[Proudiddy]

Another person speaking from sheer ignorance of the facts. But please don't let those facts get in the way of your judgment- nice to know how you revel in the passing of another human being...

Despite Tatum's failure to show remorse, former Ohio State teammate John Hicks said Tatum was haunted by the play.

"It was tough on him, too," Hicks said. "He wasn't the same person after that. For years he was almost a recluse."

Tatum had said he tried to visit Stingley at an Oakland hospital shortly after the collision but was turned away by Stingley's family members.

"It's not so much that Darryl doesn't want to, but it's the people around him," Tatum told the Oakland Tribune in 2004. "So we haven't been able to get through that. Every time we plan something, it gets messed up. Getting to him or him getting back to me, it never happens."

Man you came up in this joint with guns blazing eh? Why are you so quick to try to bust everybody's balls man? If I misspoke, then take it for what it is... What I do know is I don't speak ignorance. I also don't revel in someone's death - if that's the case, since you enjoy jumping to conclusions, then you must enjoy people spending the rest of their lives in wheelchairs.

Don't twist my words.

Not apologizing for putting someone in a wheelchair is acting 'like a dick,' as I said in my original post. Even if it was legal, you just ruined someone's life. No need to apologize? That's being a dick. So should I feel bad because he had a heart attack and passed at 61 years old? It sucks, but he didn't seem like the nicest guy, he lived a pretty good amount of years, and he passed... Should I feel sad? No. So does that mean I'm happy he died? No. So congrats on obtaining your 'connect the dots' degree.

I was speaking from what I've read previously about the incident. I don't speak on things I don't know anything about, and I had researched this incident a couple years ago... So as much as you'd like to paint Tatum as some heartbroken, shell of a man after the hit - evidence, FACTS I MEAN, suggests otherwise. No doubt, I'm sure Tatum softened up his stance the older he got. If anyone has any sort of heart/soul, when you know you're getting closer to the end, you tend to think back on things differently. You presented an argument in favor of Tatum, but from what I read about him before, I was presented with FACTS that he didn't feel bad about it.

New rules would come later banning such hits as the one Tatum made that day. The game would become safer. But it was too late to help Darryl Stingley

They were supposed to get together once, for a joint television interview in 1996. But Stingley found out Tatum would be pushing his new book, apparently didn't want to be part of a promotional effort, and pulled out.

Looking through various reported quotes from the two men and their camps through the years, there always seemed a chasm of misunderstanding, or mistrust, or hard feelings.

Stingley was said to be hurt that Tatum never came by after the incident.

Tatum was quoted as saying he tried, but was kept away by the Stingley family.

Stingley was reportedly upset he never heard an apology.

Tatum was quoted as saying he felt bad about what had happened, but had not done anything illegal to apologize for. The league and the fans and the media had honored him for being a hard tackler. Had everyone forgotten that?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2010-07-27-jack-tatum-darryl-stingley_N.htm - from an article today on his passing...

Another article, from when Stingley passed - But, in this one Tatum doesn't feel he has to apologize for 'how he played,' but 'reached out' to apologize for what happened. Pretty much says Tatum has been portrayed as a villain by the media. - http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-tatum040607

Tatum's devastating hit on a pass over the middle of the field left Stingley paralyzed. Stingley died three years ago without making peace with Tatum.

Tatum said he attempted to visit Stingley in the hospital soon after the incident, but he was denied access by Stingley's family. He never apologized for the jarring blow.

"It could have happened to anybody," Tatum said. "People are always saying, 'He didn't apologize.' I don't think I did anything wrong that I need to apologize for. It was a clean hit."

Then-Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks backed Tatum.

"I saw replays many, many times, and many times Jack Tatum was criticized," Fairbanks said several years ago. "But there wasn't anything at the time that was illegal about that play.

"I do think probably that play was a forerunner for some of the changes in rules that exist today that are more protective of receivers, especially if there is head-to-head-type contact. I think that probably pre-empted some of the things that happened today."

Tatum wrote an autobiography in 1980 called "They Call Me Assassin" for which he was criticized for glamorizing his hard-hitting style.

In a later book titled "Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin," Tatum wrote: "I was paid to hit, the harder the better. And I hit, and I knocked people down and knocked people out. ... I understand why Darryl is considered the victim. But I'll never understand why some people look at me as the villain."

Stingley said he felt as if Tatum was profiting at the expense of his injury and never reconciled with Tatum.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_15613781?source=most_emailed

So there you go... It's not so black and white. It's a whole lot of gray. As I said, I'm sure Tatum started to feel bad about it the older he got and perhaps felt remorseful and a need to apologize. He said he tried to go through Stingley's attorney, but I'm under the impression that if someone wants to speak or communicate with someone, THEY MAKE IT HAPPEN regardless of the circumstances. In the same vein, Stingley may have despised Tatum and made it clear he didn't want anything to do with him the older he got after how Tatum initially treated the incident. Yet, in 1996, Tatum is releasing ANOTHER autobiography - Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum - and decides he's ready to do an interview on TV with Stingley? LOL... Just a coincidence I guess. If you were Stingley, wouldn't you feel a little burned?

Even our own fiery guy, who has broke multiple teammates FACES with his punches, Steve Smith, has seen someone get hurt on the field and waved like a mad man to get the medics over to the injured player. There's a difference between playing hard and clean and acting like a jackass. Tatum didn't stand over Stingley to check on him, or make sure he was okay. You want someone who was a beast on the field, and arguably a dick off the field as well - Lawerence Taylor. See how he reacted when he snapped Joe Theismann's leg in half, ending his career, and how he reacted to it... That's my point.

Of course there was some degree of lack of communication or misunderstanding between the two men, which I'm sure helped Stingley build even more animosity towards Tatum, but regardless, my point is there should have been an apology for what happened to Stingley and there wasn't. Tatum's actions in the years immediately following the hit, and even up through the 1996 TV appearance that didn't happen suggest he wasn't genuinely sorry for what happened. He may have softened up after losing his toes on one foot and a leg due to diabetes, but who knows? Neither of us do. BUT, just wanted to give you some of the ALL IMPORTANT FACTS.

Even though I don't think he was a great guy, he was still a human being, so for that, RIP Jack Tatum.