Paralyzed ex-wide receiver Stingley dies

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

Darryl Stingley, paralyzed after a vicious hit during an NFL exhibition game nearly 30 years ago, died Thursday. He was 55.

Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after he was found unresponsive in his Chicago home, according to Tony Brucci, an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The cause of death was not immediately available. An autopsy was scheduled.

Stingley, a star receiver with the New England Patriots, was left a quadriplegic after he was hit from behind by Oakland’s Jack Tatum while trying to catch a pass.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17963266/

[MnFats]

1. Ex-NFL receiver Stingley dies at 55

Source: Comcast news

http://www.comcast.net/sports/index.jsp?cat=SPORTS&fn=/2007/04/05/628737.html&cvqh=itn_stingley


snippet
"Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital early Thursday after he was found unresponsive in his Chicago home, according to Tony Brucci an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Stingley played football until August 12, 1978, when the 26-year-old receiver went up for a pass during an exhibition game and was hit from behind by Oakland Raiders' safety Jack Tatum. The hit broke Stingley's neck and left him a quadriplegic."

Read more: http://www.comcast.net/sports/index.jsp?cat=SPORTS&fn=/2007/04/05/628737.html&cvqh=itn_stingley

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paralyzed at 26 after a hit from the infamous Jack Tatum, who supposedly never spoke a word to Stingley afterwards...

[jackster]

2. RIP Darrell....

You were loved by Pats fans and you were an inspiration to many

Too young to go....

[AndyA]

3. Geez, that Jack Tatum sounds like a heck of a guy. A real nice person.

I wonder how a person can live with themselves knowing they've crippled another person, accidentally or not.

I think it's inexcusable that he wouldn't have at least expressed his sorrow about the incident. What a louse.

I think Stingley wrote a book about his life a few years after the accident.

[qanda]

5. Tatum had to have his leg amputated because of diabetes

I'm sure the torment from not doing the right thing haunts him every day of his life.

[AndyA]

7. Well I would certainly hope so.

But how tormented can you be to not even express remorse to the victim?

It's awful about his leg, but Stingley couldn't use his legs or arms. :(

I've always thought football could be a little too rough. There are some things you just shouldn't be able to do that are considered legal.

[qanda]

9. I agree with you wholeheartedly

It's amazing that Tatum seemed almost proud of what he did. I guess my post was more wishful thinking than anything. Stingley, though he suffered greatly, probably had a better life than Tatum ever will because he was a good person.

[Baclava]

14. That's not the half of it...

Tatum published an autobiography after he retired. In it, Tatum describes Stingley as a whiner who "cried for his mama" while lying paralyzed on the turf.

He's scum. There are badasses (Lambert, Butkus, Larry Wilson), and then there's scum.

[qanda]

16. Oh boy, I had no idea

That's just awful. He really is scum.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. I wonder if Tatum is really as scummy as he makes himself sound...

I know this sounds crazy; but maybe deep down he's horrified by what happened...so horrified that he was too chickenshit to express remorse to Stingley. Maybe he was afraid Stingley would forgive him; and he wanted to make sure he could beat himself up for it for the rest of his life...and make everybody else beat him up for it, too.

Maybe not.

But it seems odd that someone would work so hard to make people hate him.

[argyl]

8. Tatum's a real sweetheart. Wrote a book , "They Call Me Assassin"

about what a badass Oakland Raider he was two years AFTER the Stingley incident.Wrote a couple of sequels to it,even.

No doubt the Stingley incident burnished his assassin creds.Paralyzing a man and capitalizing on it. He's a real POS.

[MnFats]

10. Tatum, supposedly, never made ANY contact with Stingley after he paralyzed him...

...much less express regret or apologize...

supposedly Tatum is now very ill himself.
has nothing to do with karma, of course...

[chelsea0011]

18. And Daryl never had a bad word to say about Tatum

Stingley was a class act who got injured as he was to enter the prime of his football career. And no doubt it would have been a good one. He patiently waited all these years for Tatum to contact him and even expressed sadness that Tatum was ill himself. RIP

[brentspeak]

19. Tatum claims that he had tried to contact Stingley, but was prevented by Stingley's family

As per this article: http://www.thescizone.com/news/articles/221/1/Stingley,-Tatum-might-reunite

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. It's the inbred Jock mentality

It's Stingley's own damned fault because he didn't get up and walk it off right away. :shrug:

[saigon68]

12. ~

[AlCzervik]

4. oh so sad, i remember when the it happened.

RIP Darryl.:(

[qanda]

6. RIP Stingley

[MissMillie]

13. very sad. I remember the game he was injured.

RIP, Darryl

[bpj1962]

15. Jack Tatum

I will not defend Jack Tatum I feel that he was a thug and a truly bad guy on the football field in the 70's. What I will say is that the hit itself was not a violent hit. Stingley lept up to catch the ball and Tatum hit him in the lower legs which caused Stingley to spin over and fall on his head. For some reason Stingley did not put his one free hand down to try and break the fall. Going over the middle in football is a dangerous game and sadly Darryl Stingley paid the price. The truly sad part about the incident is that it was only a preseason game and the catch didnt matter in the long run. John Madden has stated that one of his worst decisions in football was to not go and see Darryl while he was in the hospital.

[brentspeak]

20. No, Tatum hit Stingley with a clothesline, and from behind, even though the ball was uncatchable

The ball was thrown too high for Stingley to have been able to catch it, but Tatum hit him anyway. Tatum's hit knocked Stingley out cold, which is why Stingley didn't break his own fall. Also, I think the hit itself may have been what caused the broken neck.