Madden: Tatum’s reputation took on a life of its own

Posted: July 28th, 2010 | Chris Bayee | Tags: Oakland Raiders, John Madden, Jack Tatum

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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According to Madden, Tim Tebow is tougher than Chuck Norris

Complete team ratings for Madden 2011 are being released, little by little, at ESPN's The Gamer blog this week. So far, the full rosters for all AFC West and AFC East teams have been released, and so far, no football player on earth is tougher than Tim Tebow(notes).

Tebow's got pretty favorable ratings across the board -- 79 speed, 90 acceleration, 62 catching (in case you'd like to move him to tight end), 86 carrying, 88 throwing power and 74 throwing accuracy. Overall, he's a 70, just one point behind Brady Quinn(notes). Kyle Orton(notes), for comparison's sake, is an 80.

Where Tebow really stands out, though, is toughness. In the TGH category -- and I find this wholly appropriate since it's such an impossible thing to rate numerically, but what he hell, seems kind of tough -- Tebow's a 98.

Of all the other players on all eight listed rosters, only four can match Tebow's toughness: Philip Rivers(notes), Logan Mankins(notes), Nick Mangold(notes) and, naturally, Wes Welker(notes). One point down at 97 are Mike Vrabel(notes) and Patriots rookies Zac Robinson(notes) and Rich Ohrnberger(notes). White people, apparently, are very, very tough.

Tebow is also super strong. His strength rates an 84, which is as strong as or stronger than all of the following offensive linemen:

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Madden NFL 11 likes Drew Brees, Andre Johnson and the Ravens

Quickly, name the two best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Peyton Manning(notes) and Tom Brady(notes)? That's probably the conventional wisdom, and the most popular answer out there. There's Manning and Brady, with Drew Brees(notes) either recently having joined that super-elite group, or at the very top of the next tier below.

Madden NFL 11 flips the script, though. They've got Brees and Manning as the best quarterbacks out there, with a significant drop-off to the next tier of guys, which includes Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers(notes) and Philip Rivers(notes).

Some player ratings for this year's edition of the Madden franchise have slipped out, courtesy of the gang at Operation Sports. They've got the top-10 players at every position, and the top-five quarterbacks look like this:

1t. Drew Brees, 99.
1t. Peyton Manning, 99.
3. Tom Brady, 95.
4t. Aaron Rogers, 94.
4t. Philip Rivers, 94.

As far as teams go, last year's Super Bowl competitors top the list, with the New Orleans Saints at a 92 and the Indianapolis Colts at a 91.

Also feeling the Madden love are the Baltimore Ravens, who have the league's third-best rating with a 90. The Dallas Cowboys are an 87, the best team in their division by a full six points. The Jets are the best team in the AFC East, with their 89 rating trumping the Patriots' 86.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Rams are the game's worst team, rated 66 overall. The Bills are a 67, the Lions are a 68, the Bucs a 69, and the Browns a 70.

No team in the NFC West rises above a rating of 79. Welcome to suckville.

After the jump, see the top-10 players at every position, and the overall ratings for every NFL team.

Again, via Operation Sports ...

Top Players
C. Johnson HB - 99
P. Willis MLB - 99
D. Revis CB - 99
J. Allen RE - 99
D. Brees QB - 99
P. Manning QB - 99
R. Clady LT - 98
A. Peterson HB - 98

Quarterbacks
D. Brees - 99
P. Manning - 99
T. Brady - 95
A. Rodgers - 94
P. Rivers - 94
B. Favre - 92
T. Romo - 90
M. Shaub - 89

Running Backs
C. Johnson - 99
A. Peterson - 98
M. Jones-Drew - 96
S. Jackson - 95
F. Gore - 93
D. Williams - 92
R. Rice - 90
M. Turner - 90

Fullbacks
T. Richardson - 94
L. Polite - 91
L. Weaver - 90
L. McLain - 90
L. Vickers - 89
O. Mughelli - 88
M. Hedgecock - 86
M. Karney - 85

Wide Receivers
A. Johnson - 98
L. Fitzgerald - 97
B. Marshall - 96
R. Wayne - 96
R. Moss - 95
R. White - 93
S. Smith - 92
D. Jackson - 91

Tight Ends
Tony Gonzalez(notes) - 98
J. Witten - 97
V. Davis - 96
A. Gates - 96
D. Clark - 96
H. Miller - 90
C. Cooley - 89
K. Winslow - 89

Left Tackles
R. Clardy - 98
J. Long - 96
J. Thomas - 95
M. Roos - 95
J. Gross - 95
D. Ferguson - 91
J. Brown - 91
B. McKinnie - 90

Left Guards
S. Hutchinson - 97
L. Mankins - 95
B. Grubbs - 94
K. Dielman - 93
C. Nicks - 91
E. Steinback - 91
A. Faneca - 91
T. Herremans - 89

Centers
N. Mangold - 97
A. Gurode - 92
J. Saturday - 92
S. O'Hara - 91
M. Birk - 91
R. Kalil - 90
J. Brown - 89
D. Koppen - 88

Right Guards
J. Evans - 98
C. Snee - 96
L. Davis - 89
D. Joseph - 88
B. Moore - 88
B. Williams - 88
H. Dahl - 87
J. Scott - 85

Right Tackles
J. Stinchcomb - 90
D. Stewart - 89
D. Woody - 89
J. Otah - 86
J. Gaither - 86
V. Carey - 86
R. Harris - 85
E. Winston - 85

Left Ends
R. Mathis - 95
J. Tuck - 92
R. Seymour - 92
L. Castillo - 88
A. Smith - 87
C. Campbell - 86
S. Ellis - 86
R. Edwards - 85

Right Ends
J. Allen - 99
D. Freeney - 97
M. Williams - 95
T. Cole - 95
J. Peppers - 95
H. Ngata - 94
D. Dockett - 94
W. Smith - 90

Defensive Tackles
K. Williams - 97
V. Wilfork - 95
J. Ratliff - 94
K. Jenkins - 94
S. Rogers - 93
C. Hampton - 91
A. Franklin - 90
R. Starks - 89

LOLB
L. Woodley - 91
S. Phillips - 91
D. Smith - 89
T. Davis - 87
B. Cushing - 87
J. Peterson - 86
B. Orakpo - 85
R. Maualuga - 85

MLB
P. Willis - 99
J. Beason - 96
R. Lewis - 94
D. Harris - 91
B. Ruud - 91
L. Fletcher - 91
D. Ryans - 90
J. Vilma - 90

ROLB
D. Ware - 97
J. Harrison - 97
E. Dumervil - 93
L. Briggs - 92
T. Suggs - 90
C. Greenway - 88
K. Rivers - 86
C. Matthews - 86

Corners
D. Revis - 99
N. Asomugha - 98
C. Woodson - 97
C. Bailey - 95
A. Samuel - 94
J. Joseph - 93
L. Hall - 92
C. Finnegan -92

FS
E. Reed - 97
A. Bethea - 95
D. Sharper - 94
N. Collins - 93
O. Atogwe - 92
B. Dawkins - 90
T. Jackson - 88
K. Rhodes - 88

SS
T. Polamalu - 97
A. Wilson - 96
B. Sanders - 89
B. Merriweather - 88
L. Landry - 87
T. Branch - 86
J. Leonhard - 85
B. Pollard - 84

Kickers
R. Gould - 95
N. Kaeding - 95
R. Bironas - 93
R. Longwell - 92
S. Gostowski - 91
S. Janikowski - 90
J. Hanson - 89
D. Akers - 89

Punters
S. Lechlar - 98
A. Lee - 94
D. Jones - 94
M. Scifres - 93
M. McBriar - 92
D. Colquitt - 91
B. Moorman - 90
S. Koch - 86

Teams

NFC EAST
Dallas 87
New York Giants 81
Philadelphia 80
Washington 76

NFC NORTH
Minnesota 88
Green Bay 87
Chicago 77
Detroit 68

NFC SOUTH
New Orleans 92
Atlanta 83
Carolina 75
Tampa Bay 69

NFC WEST
Arizona 79
San Francisco 79
Seattle 75
St. Louis 66

AFC EAST
New York Jets 89
New England 86
Miami 78
Buffalo 67

AFC NORTH
Baltimore 90
Cincinnati 86
Pittsburgh 84
Cleveland 70

AFC SOUTH
Indianapolis 91
Houston 78
Tennessee 77
Jacksonville 74

AFC WEST
San Diego 85
Denver 78
Kansas City 71
Oakland 71

Related: Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Andre Johnson, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Madden/Video Games

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