Jack Tatum was one of the most feared National Football League defensive backs in 1970's during his career with the Oakland Raiders. A three time NFL Pro Bowl selection, he is best remembered for delivering a vicious head-on tackle which led to New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley becoming paralyzed for life.

Tatum died on July 27, 2010 from a heart attack in Oakland. Tatum had suffered in his post-football life from diabetes. In 2003, he needed to have the toes on his left foot amputated due to a staph infection directly related to the diabetes.

Tatum was known around the NFL as a hard-hitting safety for the Raiders during the glory years of the 1970's. He seemed intent on delivering crushing blows against wide receivers coming through the middle of the defense to catch passes. The idea was to intimidate the other team and it was mostly a successful tactic.

Tatum was a member of the Oakland team that went 13-1 in 1976 and went on to win Super Bowl XI. One of the lasting images from that game was the blow delivered to Minnesota Vikings receiver Sammy White. As he came across the middle to catch the pass, White was hit so hard by Tatum that his helmet flew off and rolled 10 yards away while his chin strap flew up in the air helicopter-blade style.

Tatum's hits didn't always go the way he panned them. In 1972 he hit Frenchy Fuqua of the Pittsburgh Steelers, preventing him from making a catch and having the ball careen away. However, the ball ricocheted into the waiting arms of Franco Harris who ran for the winning touchdown in the closing seconds of a division round game. The play came to be known as the Immaculate Reception.

Earlier in that 1972 season against Green Bay, he recovered a fumble in his own end zone and raced 104 yards for score. It was the longest fumble recovery for a touchdown in NFL history. The record stood alone as Tatum's until Aeneas Williams equaled the mark in 2000.

Maybe the most significant moment in Tatum's career was a hit he delivered on New England Patriots wide out Darryl Stingley. The play occurred in a pre-season NFL game in August of 1978, and it happened as Stingley was reaching off-balanced across the middle of the field for a pass from Steve Grogan. The ball went past Stingley, and in an instant Stingley was hit by tatum in a head-on collision.

The violence of the blow led to Stingley becoming a quadriplegic. Stingley never regained any feeling throughout his body. He died in 2007, and Tatum was never apologetic to him.

After being selected as a first-team All-State running back and defensive back at Passaic High School in New Jersey, Tatum accepted a football scholarship to Ohio State. He was originally recruited by Woody Hayes as a running back, but was switched by assistant coach Lou Holtz to defensive back.

Tatum then became a shut down cornerback capable of defending a single player by himself. This freed up the defense to pursue the other skill players, making moving the ball on the Buckeyes difficult. He was a three time all-Big Ten selection, a two-time All-American, and the national defensive player of the year in 1970. He was also a member of Ohio State's 1968 national championship team.

In 2005, Tatum was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.