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Jack Tatum Dies at 61

07/28/2010

The NFL Pro Bowl safety nicknamed "The Assassin" died Tuesday of a massive heart attack.

Former Oakland raiders safety Jack Tatum was 61.

After starring at Ohio State, Tatum was drafted by the Raiders in the first round of the 1971 NFL draft.  In 120 NFL games, he would intercept 30 passes.  He helped lead the Raiders to the 1976 Super Bowl championship.  Tatum spent the last year of his career with the Houston Oilers.

At Ohio State, Tatum's teams had posted a combined 27-2 record, and won two Big Ten Conference championships.

Tatum will always be best known for his hit in a preseason game on New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley that left Stingley paralyzed from the neck down.  Tatum accented his headhunting style of play in a 1980 book he titled, "They Call Me Assassin."  He followed up that manuscript with "They Still Call Me Assassin: Here We Go Again" in 1989, and "Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin," published in 1996.

Tatum was also involved in the play that Pittsburgh Steelers fans will always call "The Immaculate Reception."  With 22 seconds remaining in a 1972 Steelers playoff win over the Raiders, Tatum jarred loose a Terry Bradshaw pass intended for Frenchy Fuqua.  The ball caromed into the hands of Franco Harris, who ran 42 yards for the winning touchdown for Pittsburgh.

  Tim Shaw