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Although the two never met face to face again, Tatum said he tried to visit Stingley at the hospital shortly after, but was turned away by
family and friends. In 2004, Tatum talked with the Oakland Tribune saying, "It's not so much that Darryl (Stingley) doesn't want to, but
it's the people around him.......So we haven't been able to get through that. Every time we
plan something, it gets messed up. Getting to him or him getting back to me, it never happens."
Later Tatum wrote in his book, "Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin", "I was paid to hit, the harder the better. And I hit, and I
knocked people down and knocked people out. ...
I understand why Darryl is considered the victim. But I'll never understand why some people look at me as the villain."
Despite any resentments, upon hearing the news of Tatum's leg amputation, Stingley (who died in 2007) responded, "You can't, as a human being, feel happy about something like that
happening to another human being".
Current Ohio State football coach, Jim Tressel, issued the following statement, "We have lost one of our
greatest Buckeyes.........When you think of Ohio
State defense, the first name that comes to mind is Jack Tatum. His loss touches every era of Ohio State players and fans."
Jack Tatum was 61 years old.
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