mybest try at accuracy, as few opinions as i can
BelichickFan said:
I thought Tatum came off looking REALLY bad but I have to agree with him that Borges wasn't intending to paralyze Stingley.
i was watching that geme it was played in oakland there was sunlight.
John Madden was HC, al davis was younger and more involved, Fairbanks had Patriots. i watched raiders all the time----they had a great great team (5 HOFs) and their games had pushing, shoving and controversy. this was early days of NFC-AFC setup and AFL teams still played freewheeling games.
tatum and george atkinson, the other safety, were written regularly and described on TV as dirty players, a la broncos' OL.
Tatum played in college at Ohio State, Stingley at Purdue. they saw each other 3 times. El Globo (mcdonough) wrote after incident that stingley had talked several times to other players about this "thing" between himself and tatum. hhere were some "feelings" in play before they were in pro ball where tatum dialed up his play.
This was a goddam exhibition game.
grogan had already missed several passes high over the middle. another R to L pass play, a short post for stingley---the pass is high but catchable. stingley jumped to get the ball, and tatum was standing there waiting for him. i know i saw prepare himlf for a hit, and raise his forearm, and at that VERY instant the tv director wen to a shot of the bouncing ball. i heard the crown moan and the announcer siad something like "stingley seems to be hurt".
i seem to remember an endzone shot but it wasn't the correct angle.
my opinion:: it was the dirtiest shot i have ever seen in 47 years of watching football. the WR was completely vulnerable. a mean safety would have popped him hard enough to make stinlgley hit the grown---hard. what tatum was so far beyond the pale in hitting an opposing player, i can't even think of a comparison since '78 and now.. i do remember tatum waking away and atkinsson standing ovser stingley and celegrating.
