The autumn wind

[Raidernation1979]

Didn’t know where to put this but a cool violin version

[Attyla]

I totally get it. No matter how much I loved the Raiders back then I was always uncomfortable with how violent the defensive backfield, especially could be. One thing the video got wrong is it says that Tatum’s hit on Stanley was in a regular season game. It was not. It was a preseason game and really unnecessary. That marked the beginning of the crackdown on hits that were deemed unnecessary and avoidable in the NFL.

The prevailing view among players back then was you go all out no matter if it is a scrimmage or a game. If the pads were on, you hit as hard as you can. The belief was that anything less might cause an injury to you. Paralysis for NFL players is very very rare. Even before player safety was a focus. I am not defending it by any means, but the reality is, while Tatum was an especially violent player, there were a lot of teams back then that were equally if not more violent. One could make a very easy case that Lambert was far greater in that regard.

Again, so that I am very clear, what happened to Stingley should not have happened. Same with Utley. But I do not blame the men who caused the injury, the game has been and likely always will be huge strong men running at each other at full speed. Injuries will remain the norm and God forbid permanent one's as well.

[raider_kin]

The prevailing view among players back then was you go all out no matter if it is a scrimmage or a game. If the pads were on, you hit as hard as you can. The belief was that anything less might cause an injury to you. Paralysis for NFL players is very very rare. Even before player safety was a focus. I am not defending it by any means, but the reality is, while Tatum was an especially violent player, there were a lot of teams back then that were equally if not more violent. One could make a very easy case that Lambert was far greater in that regard.

Again, so that I am very clear, what happened to Stingley should not have happened. Same with Utley. But I do not blame the men who caused the injury, the game has been and likely always will be huge strong men running at each other at full speed. Injuries will remain the norm and God forbid permanent one's as well.

Agreed, that's why I pointed out that the NFL put out that video. It was all teams making those brutal hits. Just the way it was, though it is a bit uncomfortable to watch today.

[Dr Death]

[SkullCrusher]

The prevailing view among players back then was you go all out no matter if it is a scrimmage or a game. If the pads were on, you hit as hard as you can. The belief was that anything less might cause an injury to you. Paralysis for NFL players is very very rare. Even before player safety was a focus. I am not defending it by any means, but the reality is, while Tatum was an especially violent player, there were a lot of teams back then that were equally if not more violent. One could make a very easy case that Lambert was far greater in that regard.

Again, so that I am very clear, what happened to Stingley should not have happened. Same with Utley. But I do not blame the men who caused the injury, the game has been and likely always will be huge strong men running at each other at full speed. Injuries will remain the norm and God forbid permanent one's as well.

The first two sentences really were the truth, we hit as hard in practice as in games and you get a lot more chances in practice, especially in drills. Our Oklahoma was basically will throw you a pass and the defender is going to hit you with every ounce of fiber they have as you catch it, yeah we practiced what we know now as the defenseless receiver situation as a badge of honor. We killed each other and it's where my two biggest and only injuries happened. I had a concussion and a wind knocked out in game. I guess long term you can go concussion being the worst, but in terms of playing or not both of those where just a series on the sideline and back in. The only time I recall going a little lighter than full bore EVER was in bonus two team scrimmages. I guess we can kill our own, but when a team from across town come over to practice we had some gentlemen rules in place.

I had a coach in HS that went against that, he ended up being my last coach. I don't know if it was him or that was part of the changing of the guard everywhere. I feel he was a little ahead of time with that. Personally at the time, I hated that.

[Dr Death]

[Toast]

Wasn't Lamonica's nick the mad bomber?

Indeed it was. Happy Fella John Vella is another good one.

[Rabidraider]

Indeed it was. Happy Fella John Vella is another good one.

Otis Sistrunk aka “The Man from Mars!”