Hitter, yes. Assassin, no.
That is John Madden�s assessment of the late Jack Tatum, whom the Hall of Fame coach tutored as a Raider during the 1970s.
The safety co-wrote a book titled �They Call Me Assassin� after his NFL career ended, but he was never called �The Assassin� during his playing days, Madden said.
�After the book, people started to call him �The Assassin� and say that was his nickname, which was never true, and that he called himself an assassin, which he didn�t,� Madden said. �The story is that he�s a high school All-American and he�s recruited to Ohio State as a hitter. And he�s praised to be a hitter. And he plays at Ohio State and he�s an All-American, because he�s a hitter. And he goes to the pros and is a first-round draft choice because he�s a hitter.
�And then he hits a guy, the guy doesn�t get up, and they call him an assassin.�
Madden also said the hit that left Patriots WR Darryl Stingley paralyzed affected Tatum for the rest of his life.
�He never talked about things, and you couldn�t get him to talk about it,� the coach said. �It was something that ate on him for his whole life.�
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