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Former NFLer Darryl Stingley has died

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Golden Wheels Veteran

Golden Wheels

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Former New England Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley, who was paralyzed after a hard hit during an NFL exhibition game nearly 30 years ago, has died. He was 55.

 

Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital early Thursday after he was found unresponsive in his home, according to Tony Brucci an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner's office.

 

An autopsy was scheduled. The cause of death was not immediately available.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6647374

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OnTheRocks Veteran

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...ll=chi-news-hed

 

Darryl Stingley dead at 55

 

By Jeremy Gorner

Tribune staff reporter

Published April 5, 2007, 6:53 AM CDT

 

 

Former pro football wide receiver Darryl Stingley, a quadriplegic who became a symbol of the game's violence, died early this morning at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was 55.

 

The cause of death was not immediately available. An autopsy will be performed later today.

 

He was found unconscious in his apartment in the 400 block of East Randolph Street around 2:30 a.m., authorities said. His caretaker called police, and he was taken to Northwestern, said Chicago Police Lt. James Sazama. Stingley was pronounced dead at 3:28 a.m.

 

Stingley's life changed forever on Aug. 12, 1978, in a preseason game against the Oakland Raiders. A wide receiver for the New England Patriots, Stingley was the victim of a vicious but legal hit by Oakland Raiders defensive back Jack Tatum. The blow broke Stingley's neck and left him a quadriplegic for life.

 

Stingley grew up in Chicago and was a star player at John Marshall High School, where he was a standout running back. He received a scholarship to Purdue University, where he was converted to wide receiver. He was the third of three first-round draft picks of the Patriots in 1973.

 

In 1983, he wrote "Happy to Be Alive," a memoir of his life and injury.

 

He continued to call Chicago home. One of his three sons, Derek, starred in the Arena Football League.

 

Stingley recalled the viscious hit in a 2004 interview with the Tribune. "There was no penalty called on the play and there was a lot of controversy about it," he said. "The best thing that resulted is that the game changed in terms of officiating and what they call excessive violence. It has opened the game up to allow receivers to get downfield. And it has made the game more exciting."

 

But reconciling his fate was no easy task for him. His downtown condo had been been renovated to accommodate his special needs.

 

"I was at my peak at that time . . . You have to try to find a rhyme or reason when things like that happen," he said in the 2004 interview. "It took me a while to exorcise all the demons. All I had to do was come out of the house or travel around the country. Everybody I came in contact with let me know there was more of a purpose for me in life than looking at it negatively. So I decided to look at it in a positive way."

 

In 1993, Stingley formed a non-profit foundation to help give direction to troubled youngsters on Chicago's West Side where he grew up.

 

"He was a good child, he was a good, giving person," said his mother, Hilda M. Stingley, 83. "Everyone who knew Darryl loved Darryl. Twenty-eight years he struggled with this, and now he doesn't have to (struggle) anymore."

 

Tatum suffered his own setbacks, eventually losing his left leg to diabetes and his right leg to an arterial blockage.

 

Tatum wrote a book, "They Call Me Assassin," celebrating his reputation as a vicious hitter. On the 25th anniversary of his hit on Stingley, HBO attempted to put the two together on the air. Stingley declined.

 

Stingley said at the time that he was willing to talk to Tatum, but he wouldn't be exploited.

 

"It's still a story that everybody, including me, would like some closure on," he said then. "But it seems like every time we get to that point, there is something on his side where he is trying to capitalize from it.

"When it looked like he was about to lose his leg to diabetes, it was another opportunity for him to seize the moment like he did two or three years ago when he also wanted to set up something. We found out he was releasing another book. I'm not available to help people sell books. I couldn't let three minutes on the air cheapen the story. I went through a lot. If they want to bring closure, then there should be some real healing in it. Something in the area of a spiritual reconciliation."

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Spun RFA

Spun

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The guys who play this game suffer a lot of lifelong pain. Stingley's injury was tragic and sad. It is never what we want to see. We pop open our beers and watch these guys hit and get hit. After they retire, we don't hear much about most of them and of the ones that we do remember, mostly it is just a familiarity with their name. But these guys go on through life with serious pain. When I think of Darryl Stingley, I think of players of today trying to get better benefits for the players of yesterday. I hope they succeed.

 

RIP Darryl Stingley.

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jester43 Veteran

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what a terrible tragedy that whole situation was. i still remember the hit- i was watching the game at an uncle's house...it was horrifying. i was a big fan of the 70's-era raiders, but what a jackoff tatum was about that whole situation...the word "sad" doesn't quite do it justice. rip daryll stingley

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