30 Year Anniversary of Jack Tatum's Hit on Darryl Stingley

In a preseason game on August 12th, 1978, Oakland's Jack Tatum met Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley with a forearm to the head that left Stingley paralyzed.

Stingley broke his fourth and fifth vertebrae and would live the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. At the time of the hit, he was set to be the NFL's highest paid receiver (they had agreed to the contract but they were waiting to sign it when they returned from Oakland). He died in April 2007.

That hit sent shockwaves throughout football. Anti-football fans pointed to it as the violent nature of the game. At the time, Tatum's hit was legal ... but the league then made rules to stop overly-aggressive plays and hits and allowed for some safety for receivers.

Gene Upshaw, a guard for the Raiders at the time, befriended Stingley and carried a long friendship. Upshaw would go on to become leader of the NFLPA, though his work for disabled veterans remains spotty. He has been able to get teams to up their disability benefits.

Stingley and Tatum never worked things out. Tatum did contact Stingley when he was writing his autobiography ... but Stingley felt it was more of a publicity stunt than a true reconciliation.

We all love those vicious hits ... especially the ones where a receiver goes over the middle and a safety pops him. It happened last night when Cincinnati's Marvin White put a hit on the Packers' James Jones which knocked Jones' helmet off. To me, it is amazing that what happened to Darryl Stingley hasn't happened more often.

Thank God it hasn't.