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Jack Tatum, how do you feel now?

By Rick Kretzschmar | Thursday, April 5, 2007, 03:06 PM


If it's like his actions over the past 29 years, he's probably heartless.
I say this because former New England Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley died today at age 55. He went to an early grave because of a hit Tatum delivered on him during an exhibition game on Aug. 12, 1978, when Tatum played for the Oakland Raiders. The hit left Stingley a quadriplegic for the rest of his life.
While Tatum shouldn't have to apologize for making the hit, sometimes tragic events like that happen in the heat of a football game, but he never told Stingley, "Hey man, I'm sorry this happened to you." It would have been so simple, but Tatum never said it, and he's a sorry person for not doing it.
Even worse, there was to be a supposed reconciliation in 1996 in Chicago, but Stingley backed out when he found out it was to publicize a book written by Tatum. That shameful move by Tatum sounds an awful lot like when Pete Rose finally admitted he bet on baseball, because he was promoting a book at the time.
My heart goes out to the Stingley family, especially since Darryl had the courage to keep going for 29 more years after the hit. It's common and sad to see people die young in similar situations. It happened to Christopher Reeve too.
As for Tatum, he needs to make a big statement that isn't for money concerning Stingley. Otherwise, he'll show what he has shown for the past 29 years.
He doesn't care.

This study examined verbal intimidation (VI), physical intimidation (VI), and physical violence (PV) in high school athletics, both by program and by sport. Antecedents were identified via principal component analysis; they included contextual setting, attitude, pressure, and coaching. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess relationships between antecedents and VI, PI, and PV. Coaching was the only significant predictor in 9 of 15 regression analyses of overall VI, PI, and PV, and one of two significant predictors in 4 of 6 additional analyses. Coaching was the only significant predictor of VI in basketball and football, PI in football and soccer, and PV in basketball and soccer. In addition to coaching, contextual setting was a significant predictor of PI in basketball, attitude was a significant predictor of PV in football, and pressure was a significant predictor of VI in soccer. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Intimidation and violence are common in many sports and pose a serious problem. While journalists report it, sociologists and psychologists try to explain it, and athletes brag, complain, and testify in court about it (Goldstein, 1983; Horrow, 1980; Smith, 1983), athletic-program administrators are in the unenviable position of being held accountable. Some have even suggested that violence is good as long as it does not go too far, while others have argued that the fighting and slashing in ice hockey, spearing and late hits in football, and beanballs in baseball are already too harmful (Croakley, 1986).
Violence and intimidation occur mostly in heavy-contact sports (e.g., football, ice hockey, rugby) and incidental-contact sports (e.g., basketball, soccer, lacrosse, water polo), and have become widely used strategies, especially in the former. They are seen as helping to win games, thus producing rewards for players and increasing profits for sponsors. Although injuries are expected in any sport, there is often a fine line between intimidating tactics and violence that produces serious harm (Croakley, 1986).


One of the more infamous incidents occurred in a 1978 exhibition football game. Jack Tatum, an Oakland Raiders defensive back, broke the neck of Darryl Stingley, a receiver for the New England Patriots. Although Tatum was not trying to cause permanent injury, he later wrote a book titled They Call Me Assassin, in which he describes how to intimidate and hurt opposing players (Snyder & Spreitzer, 1989). Fortunately, incidents similar to that of the Tatum-Stingley affair are rare.

<Steering thread path back to topic at hand>
You think Mark is going to get any crap for his statements?

yourbeliefs said:

<Steering thread path back to topic at hand>
You think Mark is going to get any crap for his statements?

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For exposing hypocrisy?? Not from ESPN, he was on at the end of Mike & Mike's show this morning about the same subject....

BillD1984 said:

Jack Tatum, how do you feel now?

By Rick Kretzschmar | Thursday, April 5, 2007, 03:06 PM


If it's like his actions over the past 29 years, he's probably heartless.
I say this because former New England Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley died today at age 55. He went to an early grave because of a hit Tatum delivered on him during an exhibition game on Aug. 12, 1978, when Tatum played for the Oakland Raiders. The hit left Stingley a quadriplegic for the rest of his life.
While Tatum shouldn't have to apologize for making the hit, sometimes tragic events like that happen in the heat of a football game, but he never told Stingley, "Hey man, I'm sorry this happened to you." It would have been so simple, but Tatum never said it, and he's a sorry person for not doing it.
Even worse, there was to be a supposed reconciliation in 1996 in Chicago, but Stingley backed out when he found out it was to publicize a book written by Tatum. That shameful move by Tatum sounds an awful lot like when Pete Rose finally admitted he bet on baseball, because he was promoting a book at the time.
My heart goes out to the Stingley family, especially since Darryl had the courage to keep going for 29 more years after the hit. It's common and sad to see people die young in similar situations. It happened to Christopher Reeve too.
As for Tatum, he needs to make a big statement that isn't for money concerning Stingley. Otherwise, he'll show what he has shown for the past 29 years.
He doesn't care.

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And yet someone who follows football for a living AND is known as one of the top NFL reporters does not agree with this nor your view:

"If you went out worrying about getting hurt, you couldn't be a player. You certainly couldn't be a great player." This isn't to say that Tatum doesn't feel bad about what happened to Stingley. But for Tatum, there is a line between sorrow and guilt. "I feel sorry for what happened to him," said Tatum, who lost his left leg recently because of diabetes. "I tried to apologize to him a number of times, but people around him wouldn't let that happen." Tatum said he spoke with Stingley's attorney several times over the years, but nothing ever happened. In a TV interview several years ago, Tatum expressed sorrow again. That part was cut out, Tatum said, because of his steadfast defense of the deeper issue.
Tatum, as he has said many times, will never apologize for how he played. He didn't then and won't now. He is defiant in that regard. The fateful play with Stingley was one that Tatum had done thousands of time in games and practice. The quarterback dropped back, Tatum dropped into coverage. The quarterback went to throw over the middle and Tatum sized up the play. He went for the pass, figuring to break up the pass or prevent the catch. Nothing more, nothing less. The thing that so many people don't understand about football is that there's no half-speed once you put on the uniform. That was drilled into Tatum's head by men like Woody Hayes, his coach at Ohio State, and then-Raiders coach John Madden. "The only way to play for Woody Hayes was basic and tough," Tatum said. "There were no fancy West Coast offenses or anything like that. It was your 11 against their 11. Let the best team win." In that era of football, which we glorify to this day, intimidation won. Little has changed over the years. Tatum thinks the game has gotten worse with all the rules about what's allowed and what's not though the basic premise is still the same.

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Sorrow, not guilt - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

Now what did happen to Stingly was sad but that was how it was played, you cross the middle...and you could get hurt....and hurt bad. NO WHERE did I read or have I EVER READ that he was "boastful". He has been UNAPOLOGETIC about how he played. I will assure that EVERYONE that EVER played in that era that used intimidation will admit the same....non-apologetic about HOW they played football.