Back in the 1970’s, football on the gridiron was a much different game than present times. The vicious hits a defender could get away with. In today’s game the league and fans would want the defender’s head using their helmet as a wrecking ball. Launching your self in the air like a heat seeking missile. Don’t get me wrong, today’s game is still violent. Yesterday’s game was an MMA fight in the octagon. Perhaps a better way of describing it it is Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome. In 1978 in a preseason game, the Assassin struck a vicious blow on the Stingley family. Nicknamed the Assassin, Jack Tatum played for the Oakland Raiders at the safety position. He was nicknamed the Assassin because he laid people out. In that game in 1978 between the Raiders and Patriots, he put a vicious hit on wide receiver Darryl Stingley and ended his career. Darryl was paralyzed and would never walk again. You would think that would be the end of football in the Stingley family for generations to come. However that was not the case as Darryl’s son would play football and his son Derek Jr. is in his third season with the Houston Texans, made the Pro-Bowl, and was named All-Pro corner back this season.

Darryl Stingley’s son Derek was 7 years old when his father was paralyzed. Darryl was born in Chicago in 1951. He played his college ball at the University of Purdue. In 1973 he was drafted by the Patriots in the 1st round of the NFL draft 19th overall. He played 5 seasons in the NFL, all with the Patriots. He was coming off his best season in the NFL before his career ended with that vicious hit that compressed his spinal cord and broke his cervical vertebrae. All of which meant he had to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In 5 seasons Darryl played 60 games in the NFL, caught 110 balls tallying up 1,883 receiving yards, and hauled in 14 touchdown passes. From the wheelchair he never forced his son to play the game that sent him to that chair. His son Derek almost went in another direction. Instead of football he was going to play baseball.

Derek Stingley was born in the Windy City of Chicago in 1971. He followed his father and went to Purdue University. Derek played both football and baseball. He would end up graduating back at home from Triton College. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. He played three seasons in the Phillies farm system. Then decided football was his real passion. Derek would make the Jets practice squad which is the furthest he ever followed his dad’s footsteps in the NFL. Derek had a solid life in Arena Football as you remember where quarterback Kurt Warner came from. After baseball he played with a semi-pro football team, the Louisiana Bayou Thunder. He played nine seasons in Arena Football and played a different position than his father. Defensive back. His father Darryl was on hand when he saw his son take a horrific hit by Thomas Orr of the New York City Hawks on June 14th, 1998. Derek was unconscious for ten minutes on the turf. Many thought this was going to be like father like son. That did not happen as Derek suffered a concussion and would play again. In 1999 the Jets signed Derek to their practice squad. In 1999 he made the All Arena team. He was part of the Arena Bowl championship team with the Albany Fire Birds. He did play for his home team, the Chicago Rush. He racked up 443.5 tackles with 19 interceptions in his Arena Football career. He also went into coaching after his playing days came to an end. As a Arena Football head coach, he had a record of 9-32 which is not very good. He is still coaching today.

I was watching the Texans’ last two playoff games and I was impressed with how Derek Stingley Jr. played. I would definitely want him on my team. Derek Jr. was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on June 20th, 2001. You have to wonder if his father, Senior, set down roots in the state of Louisiana when he first played semi pro football after he was done playing baseball. At the age of 5 Derek Jr. had his grandfather Darryl die in 2007. He always remembered getting the cool Darth Vader stuff from his Grandpa for his birthday. Derek Jr. would take a different path than his father and grandfather. He would play his college football at LSU and he would follow his father and play defense. Derek Jr. was drafted high like his grandfather. In 2022 the Houston Texans selected Derek Jr. in the first round number 3 overall after one hell of a career at LSU. Derek Jr. has three full NFL seasons under his belt. He had 5 interceptions this season on Houston’s defense that had the most interceptions in the league during regular season. In the wild card round, Derek Jr. intercepted two Justin Herbert passes versus the Chargers, a game the Texans won. One of those interceptions he ran back for a defensive touchdown. Derek Jr. made the Pro Bowl this season and has 37 games under his belt with 11 career regular season interceptions. Derek Jr. is heading down a path where he may be the best ever to play the game in the Stingley family. A family where they bleed football. It could have easily been a different story after that devastating hit that crippled his grandfather. Or even his father being knocked out for ten total minutes laying on the turf with everyone watching breathless. Praying and hoping another family nightmare would not be happening again. In the military, how many families lost a loved one on the battle field which did not stop others members of those families from joining up to serve their country. You can say this about the Police getting killed in the line of duty. Then another member of your family follows your footprints. Actor Tom Selleck’s Blue Bloods, is a police drama that lasted over a decade where policing was the family business. In the 1990’s movie, Back Draft, their is a family of firefighters. Killed in the line of duty from a bad fire. Never stopped the family from following in the footsteps of their loved ones. Theses things happen from occupations that are dangerous to mankind.

What could have Darryl Stingley’s career been if he did not get paralyzed? He came off a 39 catch year with 657 yards and a 5 touchdown season. His best season. As for Jack Tatum he would play 136 games in the NFL in a football career that lasted ten seasons. He had 37 interceptions in his career. He played 9 seasons wearing the silver and black. He played his last season as an Oiler for the city of Houston in 1980. The Assassin was a 3x Pro Bowler. He was part of a Raiders Superbowl title. In 1979 after that Tatum hit on Darryl, the NFL changed their rules outlawing the use of the helmet to butt, spear, or ram a opponent. Not to use the top or crown as a weapon of mass destruction. Let’s remember Tatum did not get flagged from that hit on Darryl. He did not get fined or suspended by the NFL. They say that Tatum never apologized after ending Darryl’s career. Jack Tatum did try to visit Darryl shortly after that game in the hospital, but the Stingley family turned him away. That hit defined Tatum for the rest of his career. Tatum would later show no remorse in two books he wrote about his playing days and his life. The first one was called “They Call Me the Assassin,” and the second one, “They Still Call Me Assassin: Here We Go Again.” You have to imagine that hit and other hits made Tatum extra money in his life because of the nickname, assassin. It is a sad story because Darryl may have definitely lived a longer life not being confined to a wheelchair. It shows you something about a family overcoming tragedy and able to persevere like the Stingley family has. Derek Stingley Jr. may be the best yet. Perhaps another generation will appear down the line if he has kids. The Stingleys are the Blue Bloods and not even an assassin can stop them from having football in the blood because the family is stronger than anything.