Posted on 07/27/2010 11:52:15 PM PDT by Loud Mime
He was called the ''Assassin.''
Jack Tatum was one of the hardest hitters in the NFL, a Pro Bowl safety who intimidated opposing players with bone-jarring tackles that helped make his Oakland Raiders one of toughest teams of its era
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
Tatum and George Atkinson struck fear into a lot of great AFC receivers, back in the days when the Raiders were actually good. Sorry to see anyone that young - and 61 just isn’t that old these days - pass away.
Tatum was a hitter; but nothing like Atwater. His hit in SB 32 against the Packers decided the course of a NFL Championship.
RIP Jack; you made football entertaining.
"Sorry to see anyone that young - and 61 just isn’t that old these days - pass away."
Hate to say it but a professional athlete dying at 61 from these diseases is often the result of steroid use, not necessary abuse, when the player was a young man.
We might never know if Tatum used steroids, but each time I hear of another football great from the 1970s and 1980s dying in his 50s or early 60s, I can only wonder.
"Sorry to see anyone that young - and 61 just isn’t that old these days - pass away."
Hate to say it but a professional athlete dying at 61 from these diseases is often the result of steroid use, not necessary abuse, when the player was a young man.
We might never know if Tatum used steroids, but each time I hear of another football great from the 1970s and 1980s dying in his 50s or early 60s, I can only wonder.
I keep wondering about fellows like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and of course Barry Bonds. We'll know in about 10 years, especially for Bonds, whose abuse of anabolic steroids was so obvious.
I met him in ‘89. He signed my Raider hat and pennant flag. Nice guy. R.I.P.
He was a great Raider!
Many, many serious athletes and body builders, many regular gym rats used that stuff in those days . Even after “shrinkage” many were in denial of the harmful effects.
But there are all big, big guys; I have no trouble believing that Type-2 diabetes is rampant among form NFL players.
Found this, “Despite their lingering resentment, Stingley was gracious in 2003 when he learned Tatum had diabetes and several toes amputated.”
So maybe steroids are not necessarily part of the equation. No one talked about steroids in those days, at any rate. The scandal was “greenies”, or amphetamines, to get hyped up for a game.
A good friend of mine was a super FB player in the early 70’s until his knee was blown out in a college game. He once hurdled a player who tried to tackle him - the guy weighed over 200 lbs and could high jump over six feet.
Although he was far more muscular than anyone else, he denied doing steriods. About 14 years ago he came down with parkinson’s. He wasn’t even fifty yet. The last time I talked to him he was gyrating endlessly. What a sad turnaround.
Tatum was a cheap-shot terrorist. Back of the neck hits, nasty at-the-whistle small-of-the-back hits, side-knee hits, pile-ons, all the bullshit he could think of. He was rotten and utterly unrepentent, and paralyzed Stingley for life and didn’t give a damn.
Go try to spin it to God, Tatum.
My friends have been dying left and right as we entered our fifties. I thought steroid use was universal and even acceptable in those days until I got to know an assistant coach from TCU, who set me straight. TCU does not cheat. Not then nor ever I hope.
Go Horned Frogs.
We know a few pro-football players and they are literally falling apart because of steroids. Some are still using when they try to look young and fit but a couple months later we see them and my wife and daughter will say, “wow he looks 50 lbs lighter and 10 years older”. One has 2 super bowl rings and is better then most but the affects are still there.
Remember folks short term glory no matter how intense is not worth it. Their words.
We know a few pro-football players and they are literally falling apart because of steroids. Some are still using when they try to look young and fit but a couple months later we see them and my wife and daughter will say, “wow he looks 50 lbs lighter and 10 years older”. One has 2 super bowl rings and is better then most but the affects are still there.
Remember folks short term glory no matter how intense is not worth it. Their words.
He talks about the first time he hit Walter Payton head on in a game. Payton sent him flying back six feet. He said that no halfback had ever been able to do that to him with head on collision.
He knew right after that that Payton was the best halfback in the game.
I'm not one to disagree with a doctor ... but I did find a reference to anabolic steroids and side effects that mimic Type II diabetes.
Interesting.
Oh yes the hit heard in Green Bay, he knocked himself out, but it was one of the defining moments of my life,being a Broncos fan for so long to see them win was magical.. Ok bye!
You’re right...on every count. I think he called himself assasin....his book title seemed so egocentric.
Sayers book title was “I Am Third”
God is first. My friends are second. I am third.
Quite a contrast in lifestyles...no?
I hope Darryl Stingley was waiting.....delivering a devastating hit, then helping him back up.
Thank you for telling the ugly truth about Tatum. I thought I’d entered an alternate universe until I got to your post.
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