"Broken Necks, Broken Hearts, Broken Dreams"

The shot that was heard around the world was on August 12th 1978. On a beautiful day in Oakland Ca. a preseason football game was being played between the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots. QB Steve Grogan throws a pass over the right side hash marks to an up and coming star Darryl Stingley. Stingley has it and takes off towards the middle of the field. The pass from Grogan was right on the money and Stingley was off to the races, but wait a minute, Stingley has no idea that a ferocious DBack by the name of Jack Tatum was on an angle at full speed to put one of his patented devastating hits on this rising star. Remember this is only preseason when plays are initiated to look at how different schemes might work in the regular season. That made no nevermind to Tatum, he doesn't know how to play the game any other way but full speed. Tatums' hit was a helmet to helmet forearm smash designed to stop the player in his tracks and possibly jar the ball loose for a fumble. Typical 'bash-mouth' playing that made Tatum one of the most feared players in the NFL.

The hit by Tatum was successful, the player was stopped in his tracks, litterally. There was one thing different on this play though, Stingley didn't get up and trot back to the huddle, he would lay motionless on the turf that must of seemed like an eternity. Trainers and medical staff would rush to his side and quick determined that what they had on their hand was a serious injury. Players on both sides milled around on the field as emergency aid was administered to Stingley, some pondering the next play, some praying, some standing in silence of the shock that had just unfolded before their eyes. The medical staff recognizing the seriousness quickly accessed the player and transported him to the Oakland Hospitals Emergency Room. Darryl Stingley was paralyzed from the neck down (spinal cord injury) leaving him a quadriplegic. Eventually Darryl would regain limited use of his right hand and was able to operate the controls on his electric wheelchair.

Oakland Raiders Coach John Madden would visit Stingley in the hospital on several occasions. "After the game, when we found out that Darryl was paralyzed, John told him that from now on he was a Raider and we should treat him as one," Upshaw said. During his induction last summer into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Madden's thoughts weren't far from Stingley when he said, "We all like to see hard, aggressive play, but you always want the guy to get up."

"I was 26 years old at the time and I remember thinking, 'What's going to happen to me? If I live, what am I going to be like?' And then there were all those whys, whys, whys? ... It was only after I stopped asking why, that I was able to regroup and go on my with my life." -- Darryl Stingley, in 1988.

New England Head Coach Chuck Fairbanks said he couldn't find anything illegal or dirty about it. Nor did the officials; no flag was thrown on Tatum. "I saw replays many, many times, and many times Jack Tatum was criticized," Fairbanks said. "But there wasn't anything at the time that was illegal about that play. I do think probably that play was a forerunner for some of the changes in rules that exist today that are more protective of receivers, especially if there is head-to-head-type contact. I think that probably pre-empted some of the things that happened today."

Daryll Stingley had a new contract waiting to be signed upon arrival back in New England. This signing never would come to pass, and unfortunately he would be compensated with $48,000 for his contribute to the sport of football. Darryl would become a consultant for the Patriots and would pass away at the age of 55 in April of 2007.

Tatum and Stingley never reconciled. In 1996, they were supposed to meet for a TV appearance, but Stingley called it off after being told it was to publicize Tatum's book.

But when he learned that Tatum needed to have part of a leg amputated because of diabetes, he empathized. "You can't, as a human being, feel happy about something like that happening to another human being," Stingley told the Boston Globe in 2003. "Maybe the natural reaction is to think he got what was coming to him, but I don't accept human nature as our real nature. Human nature teaches us to hate. God teaches us to love." Stingley is survived by his wife, Martine, and three sons, Hank, John and Derek.

I can't help but think about the time log of events leading up to this life changing incident. Oh I could picture a Darryl Stingley getting dressed and prepared for the game in the locker room, then going out on the field warming up to play, and actually making plays, but what was going on his Darryl's head as the day wore on? Was he thinking about the big contract waiting at the home site? Was he thinking, man I'm a star in the NFL? One minute the adrenlyn is flowing and the next your lying there on the ground not able to move, the world you was living has suddenly come to a halt. All things changed for ever. The play that changed the life of this NFL star would haunt alot of people including QB Steve Grogan who said, "I've thought about that throw over and over the years. Could I have changed anything or done anything differently?"

Jack Tatum would be forever remembered for the hit on Stingley. Tatum was immediately ridiculed for his style of play and would have the distinction of being called "The Assasin". Tatum eventually would write a book about his style of play, "Final Confessions of NFL Assasin Jack Tatum". Was the book arrogance on the part of Tatum? Justifying his style of play to himself, to relieve whatever feelings he might of had for distroying a man's life? I don't know only Jack knows that. I know one thing, he played hard, hit hard, and gave 100% on every play, whether it was exhibition or prime time.

There have been others in the NFL who sustained paralyzing injuries but none have had as great an impact on us all. Sterling Sharpe, brother of our great Tight End star Shannon Sharpe had a simular type injury. Playing for the Green Bay Packers Sterling went down after blocking on a play that snapped his neck back. He received a clean bill of health immediately after the incident. The injury worsened in the next game after being tackled Sterling had numbness and tingling in his limbs. He would have surgery to repair the loose vertebraes in his upper neck and would have to retire from playing in the NFL. Sharpe had 18 TD's in his last year.

Another player hitting close to home was former first round draftee Marcus Nash. Nash a bust in the NFL would become a star in the Arena Football league with the Dallas Desperados. Nash sustained a broken neck in a playoff loss to New York. It would require surgery to repair the injured neck and possibly end his football career. Nash was the Arena Football's Offensive Player of the year in 2004.

Hard hitting in the NFL is part of the game and I love to see tackles of made of that nature. It's part of the sport, they  are not playing flag football, and the injuries will be a part of it. Many rules have been changed to try and impart the hard hits from devastating injuries. No one likes to see a player get hurt esspecially an injury that removes that player from the very sport that they love and we love to watch. Injuries are a fact of the game and elliminating injuries is impossible. Players have to adjust to new rules and play accordingly or they are penalized and some times fined. I don't know about you, but I watch football for the hits, and the great plays made both on offense and defense. It's sad when one of our heros goes down and can't get up.

I hope you all enjoyed this post, it was an inspiration to me after watching the play that injured Peyton Hillis. The hamstring injury could have been the least of his worries. If you want to watch it go to YOUTUBE, Hillis injury. Thanks everyone for you great and thought posts and have a great day.