Jack Tatum

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault."

-Jack Tatum

Jack Tatum was drafted by the Oakland Raiders as the 19th pick in the 1st round of the 1971 draft. He attended college at Ohio State. He became a true symbol of the Oakland Raiders rough and tough guy persona, which was honed in the 70's. The Assassin helped build up the Raiders reputation as hard hitters who would bend and even break the rules to win. Tatum unapologetically decimated opponents during his time in the position of safety. In Super Bowl XI in 1977, where the Raiders got their first championship, Tatum hit Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sammy White so hard his helmet got knocked clean off his head.

Tatum was a part of two more legendary plays. On August 12th, 1978, the Raiders played the New England Patriots in a preseason game at the Oakland Coliseum. On an inside slant route, Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley got hit by Tatum when he jumped up to catch the pass. The devastating hit paralyzed Stingley, cutting short his promising career. At the time, the hit was ruled legal. Since then, likely in reaction to the hit and the increasing violence in the NFL as a whole, rules regarding what hits constitute a penalty have been significantly stricter. Darryl lived out the rest of his life as a quadriplegic, dying on April 5th, 2007. The relationship between Darryl and Tatum became a very complicated one. Tatum refuses to apologize for his methods when playing.

"Yeah, everybody is supposed to play really hard and then get up at the end like nobody is hurt. It's unrealistic. If you want to play football for a living, you're going to get injured. If you went out worrying about getting hurt, you couldn't be a player. You certainly couldn't be a great player."

However, Tatum claims he attempted to apologize to Darryl personally, but was prevented by the people around him. Darryl said that he forgave Tatum, "in my heart and in my mind". He was, however, very disturbed by the titles of Tatum's three bestselling autobiographies: They Call Me Assassin (1980), They Still Call Me Assassin (1989), and Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum (1996). The injury to Darryl Stringley is cited as one of the reasons for the Raiders-Patriots rivalry.

Before that, Tatum was a part of one of the most famous and controversial football plays of all time. During the AFC divisional playoff game, the Pittsburgh Steelers trailed the Oakland Raiders 7-6, thanks to a last minute touchdown run by Kenny Stabler. The Steelers had possession on their own 40 yard line. With 22 seconds left on the clock, victory seemed all but sewn up for the Raiders. Steeler coach Chuck Noll called a pass play. Quaterback Terry Bradshaw was under great pressure and tossed the ball to halfback John "Frenchy" Fuqua. Tatum knocked Fuqua down and sent the ball flying back to the line of scrimmage, where Steelers fullback Franco Harris picked up the ball and ran it in for a last minute touchdown, giving the Steelers a 13-7 victory over the Raiders. The Steelers would later become of the the most significant dynasties in NFL history in the 70's, winning four Super Bowls during the decade.

Controversy aroused from several aspects of the play. First, coming from the Tatum/Fuqua collision. If the ball hit Fuqua, and only Fuqua, Harris' reception would be illegal. There is also the question of whether or not the ball touched the ground after it was sent sailing after the collision. If the ball touched the ground and Harris picked it up, the touchdown would be overturned. Due to the primitive recording technology of the 1970's, finding the answers to these questions is basically impossible. The play was ruled in favor of the Steelers, partially because of fear of the safety of the referees in the Steelers stadium.

Tatum played for the Raiders from 1971 to 1979. His final season in the NFL was for the Houston Oilers, where he played for one season in 1980.

Tatum was named the 6th most feared tackler of all time in an NFL FIlms Top 10 Countdown.