jack tatum...

The Oakland Raider was one of the hardest hitters to ever play football has passed away @ 61 from a massive heart attack. Tatum had battled diabetes.

Tatum will forever be known as the safety who layed a hit on New England wide receiver Darryl Stingley in a preseason game which paralyzed him.

Stingley died in 2007 after living nearly 30 years as a quadriplegic.

I must admit, I had patterned my game off of Tatum. I was a hard hitter when I played football...

The Ohio State Buckeye was also criticized for not showing any remorse after paralyzing Stingley. Actually, the two never spoke after that fateful hit on August 12, 1978.

I saw Tatum @ a club in Lake Tahoe many years ago and he really looked like a menacing individual.

However, he was a great football player and he died much too young...