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S Jack Tatum "The Assassin" (All-American, NCAA DPOY,National Champ, CFB HOF, Super Bowl Champ, RIP)

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Jack Tatum | 1948-2010
Heart attack takes life of feared hitter
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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OHIO STATE PHOTO
Jack Tatum was recruited to Ohio State out of Passaic, N.J., as a running back, but he was moved to defense the spring of his freshman year.

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Richard Drew | Associated Press
While playing for the Raiders in Super Bowl XI, Jack Tatum separates Vikings receiver Sammy White from his helmet.
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Stan White still remembers the morning he left the dormitory and got on the bus that would take him to his first Ohio State football practice.

"There was only one other person on the bus, in the front seat," White said. "It's this African-American with a big afro all over the place, no shirt on, muscles coming out of everywhere and scar wounds on him from his youth fights on the streets of New Jersey.

"I thought to myself, 'I came to the wrong place. If all the guys here are like this, I'm in the wrong place,'" said White, from Kent, Ohio.

"But all the guys weren't like him. There was nobody like him."
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http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...tack-takes-life-of-feared-hitter.html?sid=101
His college recruitment was one of the more intense in these parts. Before he decided on Ohio State, a stream of recruiters and alumni made their pitches, including Emlen Tunnell, the Giants? Hall of Fame defensive back. Tatum listened to Tunnell?s pitch for his alma mater, Iowa, and then politely thanked him for coming. As Tunnell began to walk from the room, Tatum said softly, ?But I don?t want to go to school in some cornfields.?

Tatum was part of one of Ohio State?s greatest recruiting classes, one that included Bruce Jankowski of Fair Lawn. Since freshmen could not play varsity ball in the late 1960s, Tatum often played running back and linebacker, and returned punts for the freshman team. He was so good that Woody Hayes, the legendary Buckeyes? coach who usually had better things to do than attend freshmen games, showed up one Friday afternoon to get a look for himself.

After the game, in which Tatum ran backward 10 yards before reversing his course as he returned a punt for an 80-yard touchdown, he was told that Hayes wanted to speak to him outside the locker room.

Instead of the pat on the back Tatum anticipated, Hayes stared at his future star and said, ?Son, we run forward, not backward, at Ohio State.?

That may have been one of the few times Hayes was in character with Tatum. The next season, when the Buckeyes had a log jam at running back with future Green Bay Packer John Brockington and Tatum, Hayes dispatched an assistant named Lou Holtz to tell Tatum he would move to defense. Before the coach could say it, Tatum said the move was fine with him.
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NorthJersey.com: Rowe: Jack Tatum accepted role of intimidator


John Madden on Tatum's reaction to Stingley injury: "It ate at him his whole life"
Posted by Mike Florio on July 28, 2010

As part of an excellent obituary of former Raiders safety Jack Tatum, who died Tuesday of a heart attack while waiting for a kidney transplant, Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times obtained reaction from Tatum's coach in Oakland, John Madden.

Madden told Farmer that the play for which Tatum was most notorious -- the August 1978 hit on Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley that left him paralyzed -- had a dramatic impact on the man who seemed to relish his reputation as a fierce hitter.

"It ate at him his whole life," Madden said of Tatum.
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John Madden on Tatum's reaction to Stingley injury: "It ate at him his whole life" | ProFootballTalk.com

Assassin?s Last Stand: The Lost Tatum Interview
Posted by Brooks on Jul. 27, 2010

Jack Tatum died today of a heart attack in Columbus, Ohio. He was 61. The former Oakland Raiders defensive back was best-known for his 1978 preseason tackle of former New England Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley. The hit left Stingley paralyzed from the neck down for life. Stingley died a quadraplegic of heart disease and pneumonia in 2007.

Some of Tatum?s last, extensive comments about Stingley were made to former BERGEN (NJ) RECORD reporter Adrian Wojnarowski in 2003. Wojnarowski?s piece containing Tatum?s remarks is no longer available online, so I?ve reprinted it below.

January 26, 2003 / Sunday / All Editions
Tatum Will Never Apologize For Stingley Hit
Bergen Record / North Jersey Media Group
BY ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI

SAN DIEGO ? Some day, Jack Tatum had to tell his son the story of the most infamous hit in National Football League history. ?I knew it was coming,? he said. Three years ago, it did. Lewis Tatum walked into the house. The kids at school had been talking about Darryl Stingley. Now, he wanted to hear for himself: Why had his father paralyzed a man?

They used to call him Assassin, but now they call him Dad. Tatum hadn?t met his wife, Denise, until his professional football career was over in 1980. She and the children ? Jestyn, 15, and Lewis, 13 ? had never watched Tatum play a down of football. Especially the kids, they just knew him as the man who was there every day in retirement, packing lunches, driving to swimming and soccer practices, and reading bedtime stories.
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SPORTSbyBROOKS ? Assassin’s Last Stand: The Lost Tatum Interview
 
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These quotes from the Brooks article above speak volumes about his character.

Denise Tatum was on the telephone Saturday night, a wife who met her husband weeks after his football career ended in 1980 and said: "I never fell in love with a football player. I fell in love with Jack." She was telling the story of him "changing far more diapers than I ever did," staying home with the kids, of him spending five years of mornings and afternoons feeding and caring for her father afflicted with Alzheimer's.

"He's the most kindhearted man I've ever known, the absolute best dad on the planet," Denise said.
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Buckeyeskickbuttocks;1738759; said:
He'd make today's wide receivers grab their blankies, suck their thumbs and call for mommy.

That is... if they ever regained consciousness.
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God, I wish I could kidnap T.O., Ocho Sucko, and Randy Moss, put them into the Wayback machine, and make them play a few seasons against Tatum. Boom! Instant attitude adjustment.

//Don't bring up logistics, I could make it work.
 
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Football's 'Assassin': The Anti-Legacy of Jack Tatum
By Tim Padgett / Miami Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010

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Defensive back Jack Tatum of the Oakland Raiders watches from the sideline in 1977.
Michael Zagaris / Getty Images

Last September, in the waning seconds of a football game against Illinois, Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman ran at a quarterback who was already being pulled to the ground, lowered his head and delivered a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit. The astonishing thing was that the NCAA referees, who for decades had all but ignored that kind of onfield stupidity, actually threw a flag. Even more stunning ? and laudable ? was the NCAA's decision to suspend Coleman for one game.

The Coleman incident was an unfortunate reminder that each week during the football season, Ohio State coaches give out an award for the hardest hit ? which is fine, except that they've named it after former Ohio State player Jack Tatum. Yes, that Jack Tatum, who as an NFL safety for the Oakland Raiders paralyzed New England Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley with a barbaric helmet-to-helmet hit in 1978. It was the worst of a gallery of similar blows Tatum dished out during his violent 10-year career, earning him the macho-moronic nickname "The Assassin." In his 1980 book ? which he was tasteless enough to title, just two years after leaving Stingley a quadriplegic, They Call Me Assassin ? Tatum made the remark that he liked to think his hits "border on felonious assault."
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Read more: Football's 'Assassin': The Anti-Legacy of Jack Tatum - TIME
A nickname or reputation, no matter how fierce, did not reflect all of Ohio State star Jack Tatum: Bill Livingston
Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010,
Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer

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The legacy of Jack Tatum the football player is more than a tragic incident with Darryl Stingley. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has made sure to keep Tatum's fierceness alive with a weekly award in his name during the season.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The stories about Jack Tatum always begin with brutality. There is no room in them for remorse. It was the code by which he lived.

But at Ohio State, they say they didn't know that Jack Tatum.

Share The safety who hit like a linebacker died of a heart attack Tuesday at the age of 61. Darryl Stingley, whom Tatum hit and paralyzed in one of the NFL's most horrifying moments, died three years ago at 55.

They were always connected, from the August day in 1978, when they met at the intersection of speed, force and macabre celebrity, until their deaths.

"We lost one of the greats," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. "You would never have known Jack Tatum's nickname was 'The Assassin' from listening to him. He was a gentle, loving, soft-spoken guy off the field. It was hard to believe he was the guy in the highlight films, blitzing against Michigan or making those big hits against Purdue."
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A nickname or reputation, no matter how fierce, did not reflect all of Ohio State star Jack Tatum: Bill Livingston | cleveland.com

Phil Strickland, Tatum's roommate for three years at Ohio State, named his oldest son after Tatum.

"As tough as he was on the football field, he was a gentle soul off the field," Strickland said Tuesday. "If you just met him in a social situation, you wouldn't even know it was him. On the field, he could be your worst enemy."

Recruited to Ohio State from New Jersey by Woody Hayes, Tatum kept to himself as he adjusted to life in the Midwest as a freshman. But when given the chance, he began to make his mark as a sophomore, dominating Purdue in the Buckeyes' win over the No. 1-ranked Boilermakers in the third game of the 1968 season.

Led by Tatum and others in his class who would come to be known as the "Super Sophs," the Buckeyes marched to a 10-0 season and the national championship.

"To this day, that was as good a defensive game as I've ever seen somebody play," Ohio State football historian Jack Park said, describing how Tatum tracked Purdue All-American running back Leroy Keyes all over the field. "And he was about as good as it gets. We've had a lot of great defensive players play at Ohio State, but I think if you had to pick one, it would be Jack Tatum."
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Former Ohio State and NFL defensive star Jack Tatum dies at age 61 | cleveland.com

Michael Arace commentary: Tatum left his imprint on the field and off
Thursday, July 29, 2010
By Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Jack Tatum's highlight reel of NFL hits is a collection of humorless carnage. Look at Tatum hit Earl Campbell, who falls like Ali to Holmes, on the goal line. Look at Tatum lay into Sammy White with enough violence to pop White's chin strap - both snaps - and send White's helmet flying. Look at Tatum make Riley Odoms go limp with a hook tackle, which, Tatum wrote, was designed to "strip the receiver of the ball, his helmet, his head and his courage."
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http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...his-imprint-on-the-field-and-off.html?sid=101

John Hicks Remembers Jack Tatum | NBC 4i

Phil Strickland Remembers Jack Tatum | NBC 4i

Former Buckeye Defensive Back Jack Tatum, 61, Dies | NBC 4i
 
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First off, Condolences to all of Jack's family members and loved ones. And, to the Buckeye family as well, because we all are mourning the loss of our "greatest ever" on the defensive side of the ball.

Many years after Jack graced the field, the term "freak" was passed around to those athletes that seemed to perform well above and beyond what a typical human being shoud be able to accomplish. These were athletes that were huge dudes with incredible strength and speed that could dominate a game simply with their imposing physical presence.

To me, Jack Tatum was, and always will be, the original "freak" but without the "size" of those who have been designated as such over the years.

If I remember correctly, Jack maxed at about 6' and about 210 lbs, about 6 lbs. heavier than he was when he was recruited as a RB under the name of "John Tatum." For a man this size to deliver the ferocious hits that he did, at his size, is almost incomprehensible. It made absolutely NO sense that a man this size could hit that hard.

In the 40 years since Jack played here, there have been numerous "once in a generation" defensive players. Heck, we even produced 2 overall #1 Picks in Cousineau and "Big Daddy" who were great players but in most folks opinions wouldn't even rank them Top-10 in Buckeye history. Jack, on the other hand, stands alone, as what I's like to call a "once in a LIFETIME player." Archie Griffin is the greatest Offensive player to ever play here, hands down. And, Jack Tatum is the greatest Defensive player to ever play here, hands down as well. Many people don't realize that Jack was a top-10 finisher in the Heisman voting his Junior (10th) and senior (7th) years.

Getting long winded, but tuff to let go of a true Buckeye "legend." I could talk about Jack for hours. Maybe my most hated story goes like this:
In 1971, and I was just a kid, the "buzz" around Cleveland was whether or not Jack would be available when the Browns pick came up. It wasn't a matter of would they take him, it was a matter of would he be there. Well, the Browns hit the clock with Jack still available, and promptly picked CB Clarence Scott from Kansas becuase they needed a "CB" and NOT a "Safety."
Then , the following year, the hometown "Clowns" decide they indeed do need a "safety" and pick Thom Darden in the 1st round who the previous year basically "raped" Dick Wakefield at scUM which caused Coach Hayes to get a bit of an "attitude" and promptly tear up the yard markers at the "Pig-House."

RIP Mr Tatum. You will be remembered and loved forever here. When I talk Buckeye football with my 13 year-old son, your name always comes up. And, I'm sure it does, with fathers to sons of alot of our members here.

Peace, and a Big'OL :oh: to Jack
 
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Family, friends, fans remember former Oakland Raider Jack Tatum
By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 08/04/2010

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Jack Tatum's brother, Samuel Tatum, looks over a Jack Tatum jersey that was clipped to the...

OAKLAND -- Fans best know Jack Tatum as a hard-hitting football player whose name could strike fear into the heart of opponents. But that would be too simple to describe Tatum, who died July 27.

He was nicknamed "The Assassin." But he would sneak pieces of his mother's pineapple coconut cake so that his wife of 30 years, Denise, wouldn't get mad at him.

The former Oakland Raider played hard on the field. Off the field, he doted on his daughter, two sons, two grandchildren, four godchildren.

When his daughter Jestynn took up basketball and soccer, he attended all the games.

And, his wife said, he was "silly as all out."

Up to nearly the hour he died, he was joking around, she said.

"He was like a big kid."

Then, suddenly, Tatum's blood pressure dropped and "he was gone," she said. "It was the hardest day ever."

The man with a big heart who spent his time raising awareness about diabetes, from which he lost a leg, had died from a heart attack.

But his death is not what brought Tatum's family, friends and former teammates together Wednesday at the Fouche's Hudson Funeral Home on Telegraph Avenue.

They came from all over the nation to remember the man who grew up in a big house full of children and food and hard work in downtown Passaic, N.J.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_15677350?nclick_check=1

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMWVMxIlHyQ]YouTube - Jack Tatum Ultimate Tribute[/ame]
 
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The Pro Game
Oakland's Tatum: Right place, right time
Posted Aug. 10, 2010
By Tom Danyluk

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Raiders S Jack Tatum

If Jack Tatum were operating in today's NFL, I have a feeling we wouldn't remember him 30 years from now. They'd flag him to death out there. Unnecessary-roughness charges ? personal foul, blow to the head, leading with the helmet, etc. Followed by the fines, and maybe a summons or two to the commissioner's office, where they'd try to make him see it their way.

No, Jack Tatum 2010 would have danced on the fringe, and the league eyes would have hounded him and chipped away at his instincts until he finally said to hell with it and slipped into the faceless throng of pro safetymen. And, in the long run, nobody remembers a conformist.

But Tatum, who died of a heart attack July 27 at the age of 61, played in an era that suited his vicious, attacking nature just fine. This was the 1970s, when nobody was hand-wringing about concussions or dementia or post-football wellness, and if you sent a guy out cold on a stretcher, brother, you were giving the gate its money's worth.

"Our defensive backs played with the philosophy of instilling fear," says former Raiders LB Phil Villapiano, "that if receivers were afraid to catch the ball or come across the middle because they thought they'd get killed, it would make the secondary's day a whole lot easier. A lot of times, yeah, they'd mark the receivers and try to take them out. I don't think they wanted to hurt anybody, or do what happened to Darryl Stingley, but they considered receivers their enemy.

"I remember a hit Jack Tatum once put on (Broncos TE) Riley Odoms. Tatum caught him under the chin, and Odoms landed on his back, and then his eyeballs rolled back into his head. I thought he died! Jack could have hit him low, but noooo, he sticks his helmet right under Odoms' chin. That's the knockout blow, and Jack was excellent at doing it."
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ProFootballWeekly.com - Oakland's Tatum: Right place, right time
 
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George Helps Community Remember Tatum
November 23, 2010

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Tatum is still regarded as an all-time Buckeye and pro.

Eddie George has made a lot of big runs for the Buckeyes over the years. His journey back to Columbus for Tuesday night?s Wal-Mart Celebrities for Diabetes event may be one of his most important.

The former star Ohio State running back and 1995 Heisman Trophy winner is the headliner but will be just one of the luminaries on hand for the dinner and program, which will raise funds and awareness for the Central Ohio Diabetes Association.

Another all-time OSU great, former Outland Trophy winning lineman John Hicks, will serve as honorary chair of the event, which is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, located at 405 Neil Ave. in Columbus.

Hicks has diabetes, as did his late friend and fellow OSU legend Jack Tatum, who will be memorialized. Tatum lost part of a foot and his leg below the knee because of diabetes and he eventually got involved in the association and the Michigan week event.
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http://sportsrappup.com/sections/stories/10-11-23/George_Helps_Community_Remember_Tatum.aspx
 
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