The Tatum Lie
Here is a lie Paul Zimmerman (a.k.a., Dr. Z) from Sports Illustrated made up recently regarding the Stingley-Tatum play:
"I saw the Patriots-Raiders game live. I saw replays of the play countless times. I don't believe that the tackle that took Stingley down was the hit that did the damage.
I think it came when he was on the ground, or just about to hit it. That's when Tatum drilled him and he was paralyzed."
This is where Zimmerman fabricated the lie that Tatum "drilled Stingley while he was on the ground and he was paralyzed."
And as you know, this is the actual hit, not Dr. Z's made up account of it.
What I see is:
Stingley stretches out to reach a Grogan pass that is thrown way off target and is uncatchable.
Stingley sees Tatum coming.
Stingley ducks his head expecting an impact with Tatum
Tatum rams the top of Stingley's head with his shoulder.
Please, anyone correct me if I have pulled a Mr. Magoo here. This looks like an accident to me.
Dr. Z has intentionally fabricated a story, saying he was himself an eyewitness to Jack Tatum hitting Darryl Stingley "while he was down."
I'm no lawyer, but written accounts accusing someone of a crime that are made up to defame a person sound like slander or libel to me.
Dr. Z has also stated "Jack Tatum will never make the Hall of Fame as long as I am alive."
This is where he made that statement.
Labels: Darryl Stingley, Dr. Z, Jack Tatum, Paul Zimmerman, Raiders
posted by Stick'em at 8:28 AM
4 Comments:
In his article Zimmerman also says:
"He wrote a book, They Call Me Assassin, cashing in on the play. The idea of it gave me the creeps, but after all, when a guard dog is trained to kill, that's what it does, without remorse.
The people toward whom I feel real animosity are the ones who actually went out and bought that book."
As you know, I am one of the ones who bought the book, and read it.
Since Zimmerman is unabashed in his "animosity" towards me (and anyone else who has read the book), I sent this reply to him via email:
Dear Dr. Z ~
I bought the book and find it to be one of the best books by an NFL player I've ever read. Have you actually read it, "Dr." (and I use the word doctor very loosely) Z?
Or did you just read that the title has the word "Assassin" in it and make a knee-jerk reaction?
Here is what it says:
"When the reality of Stingley's injury hit me with its full impact, I was shattered. To think that my tackle broke another man's neck and killed his future... well, I know it hurts Darryl. It hurts me too.
I didn't know if I ever wanted to play football again. It was constantly on my mind and tearing at my insides. My body felt like a hollow shell that no longer belonged to me."
~ Jack Tatum, They Call Me Assassin. p 224
BTW, I saw Jack Tatum's Super Bowl Trophy up for auction recently. Doesn't look like he has a whole lotta loot from book sales to me if he's puttin' his hardware up for $...
But don't let any thing like the actual facts trip you up there, "Dr." Z.
Best wishes,
~ Stick'em
As you might guess, "Dr." Z did not reply to my message nor did it appear in the "NFL Mailbag" on his website.
If you would like to have your opinion on this matter heard, feel free to comment here.
or contact Sports Illustrated:
Paul Fichtenbaum, Managing editor of SI.
Email: Paul_Fichtenbaum@ timeinc.com
(212) 522-1212
voicemail service
Sports Illustrated Edit
Sports Illustrated Building 135 West 50Th St., 4Th Fl.
New York, NY 10020-1393
USA
Website: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Phone: (212) 522-1212
Fax: (212) 522-4243
Giv'em Hell Stick'Em!
Zimmerman aka Mr. Proctologist deserves the full forearm shiver upside his head. Let's fact it, if he was a real doctor he would be sued to kingdom come for malpractice.
Zimmerman should be ashamed of himself ... being so cavelier with the truth when it involves real human beings is negligent, unprofessional, and frankly, a f'n travesty.
From this day forward I shall refer to "Dr. Z" as "FU Z".
Nice forensics work on yet more bias from SI. Writing about the Raiders and being careless with the facts has become all too common, and this phenomenon will continue to proliferate and perpetuate itself until we say "Enough!" and hammer back with facts and intelligence. Well done!
Nice work. I am going to play this on and going to check it out by myself. I can't believe this. I was shocked when I read these statements. I think these lie in the game is really bad. It will decrease the passion towards the game.
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