Jack Tatum

Jack Tatum, 61, a defensive back for the Oakland Raiders whose bone-jarring tackles earned him the nickname "the Assassin," died July 27 at a hospital in Oakland, Calif., after a heart attack.



this opinion will not go over well , but Jack Tatum embodied true American spirit and exposed the plastic fabric of our society....allow me to explain.

Jack Tatum was a rough and tumble street hood from Pasaic NJ, I read his autobiography "They Call me Assassin" when I was in High School. He did not start playing football until his high school days, he played defensive the way "EVERYONE" was taught to play defensive, The way Woody Hayes had instructed, the style that helped lead the Buckeyes to a Natl Championship and great praise and admiration, they way GREAT men like Butkus , Bednarik, and Huff before him had played, the way future Hall of Famers were hailed on TV every Sunday for playing...."with emotion and packing a wallop". Jack played every play of every game that way , opposing teams, especially Wide receivers feared him and even changed their game plans to avoid him....a style that was worth every penny of his moderate salary to Owner Al Davis.

Jacks Problem ? he had the audacity to play that way in the preseason...as if for some reason , when some rookie was trying to take your job, you were supposed to play a different way, a more sociably acceptable way, a kindler , gentler brand of football. in a 1978 preseason game at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum , Jack Tatum hit Daryl Stingley to break up a completion over the middle of the secondary.....no flags, no rule infractions, no ejection...just an incomplete pass......Mr Stingley sadly was paralyzed.....cue the violin music.....this is when ESPN ( had they been around in 1978) would solemnly say on Sportscenter that this "Puts its all in perspective".....heads bowed, shaking from side to side...moment of silence type stuff.......now back to Tom Jackson feature...you've been jacked ! ! where we celebrate bone jarring hits, just like the ones featured on Madden 2010........you see it is okay for everyone else to profit from the violent game and sell it to kids like crack in the schoolyard....but Jack? no sir...he was vilified.

Jack never apologized and the media, Mr Stingley and our ignorant Nation never forgave him.......Mr. Tatum stated in his last book that he did not apologize because "like it or not" he did nothing wrong......you see Jack Tatum, no matter what you may think about him, was not going to take the easy way out and cry false tears, have a televised feel good reconciliation at halftime of the Thanksgiving Game and promise to send Stngleys kids to College.....

Jack Tatum is and was REAL.....America is not. Jack made a living as a feared defender, if he even hinted at a soft side, if opposing receivers suddenly had the balls to go over the middle, how would Mr Davis react? Jack had an image and a career to protect, and he did nothing wrong at the time. the following year the league stepped in and BEGAN changing rules to protect receivers, so now if you paralize some wideout in a preseason game ( BS games designed to ripoff fans and line the pockets of the owners) it will cost your team 15 yards Mister.

Poor Jack Tatum , in hindsight , if he had issued a press release apologizing to anyone that may have been offended by his legal tackle, he'd be in the hall of fame.