11/21/24
July 27, 2010
Former Oakland Raiders All-Pro Safety Jack Tatum Dies: Jack Tatum, Former Oakland Raider Safety Dies at 61 years of age
posted by yzelda4045 to football at 03:18 PM - 9 comments
Tatum was a larger-than-life figure in my childhood. I feared for Golden Richards' when the Pokes played the Raiders.
That AP story appears to contain a falsehood about Tatum trying to visit Stingley after the accident and being turned away. According to Wikipedia, Stingley wrote in his 1983 autobiography that Tatum never made any effort to apologize or see him after the hit. They never spoke over the years.
Tatum claimed not long ago that he tried to talk to Stingley several times over the years and was turned away, but that sounds pretty suspect to me. How hard is it to contact somebody?
posted by rcade at 03:42 PM on July 27, 2010
I recall that at one point a meeting was set up, then it fell through. There seemed to be a funky vibe surrounding the whole thing.
I'd have to go look at some of the stuff that was written about the hit back when Stingley died.
posted by beaverboard at 04:40 PM on July 27, 2010
My uneducated guess is that somebody didn't want to meet unless there was money in it.
posted by rcade at 04:46 PM on July 27, 2010
Tatum's first (of three) autobiography, They Call Me Assassin, was a pretty good read for a guy playing high-school football. He tells some pretty amazing stories, including one about intentionally slowing down as a high-school wide receiver so he could let a showboating defender close the gap -- then turn around and flatten him before scoring the touchdown.
RIP, Assassin.
posted by wfrazerjr at 05:04 PM on July 27, 2010
I never liked the guy, but I thought he would have stuck around longer.
What? Too soon?
.
posted by scully at 05:16 PM on July 27, 2010
He and George Atkinson owned the middle of the field like no safety duo before or since, and were the emodiment of those great Raider teams of the '70's. His hit on Stingley, while vicious, was clean, and typical of what you could expect when you entered his territory with the ball.
There were sure some great safety duo's in those days: Jake Scott and Dick Anderson, Charlie Waters and Cliff Harris, Billy Thompson and Louis Wright, Mike Wagner and Glen Edwards, but none were more feared than Tatum/Atkinson. Wow, what a hitter Tatum was.
posted by mjkredliner at 12:02 PM on July 28, 2010
posted by mjkredliner at 08:16 AM on July 30, 2010
The guy was a good, tough football player, and it's too bad his name will always be synonymous with the Stingley tragedy.
posted by dyams at 12:53 PM on July 30, 2010
I used the "collision" he had with Darryl Stingley to attempt to convince my son not to play football...It didn't work. RIP