DL Jim Marshall (official thread)

[osugrad21]

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Hall omission of Vikings' Marshall is puzzling
By Eric Krupka on August 7, 2006 01:11 AM
When touring the Pro Football Hall of Fame, you'll notice something is missing. The bust of Jim Marshall, one of the all-time greatest defensive lineman, is missing.
Year after year, Marshall, a legendary Minnesota Vikings defensive end, is snubbed by the Hall's selection committee. How one of the greatest ends ever is deemed not up to snuff by the Hall voters is baffling to say the least.
When the football writers cast their ballots every year and trim down their lists to a select few to enshrine, the main things they look at are: dominance, consistency, longevity, leadership and Super Bowl rings. Looking at Marshall, he clearly demonstrated proficiency in each of the categories with the exception of the ever elusive Super Bowl titles.
First, let's take a look at the category of dominance. During Marshall's illustrious career he was a vital cog in arguably the best defensive line ever assembled. Aside from being another tremendous talent on an outstanding line, he held NFL records for fumbles recovered (29) and consecutive games played (282). His consecutive games played streak was broken by punter Jeff Feagles in 2005. In 1968 and 1969, he was named to the Pro Bowl. The Ohio State product was a relentless pass rusher, deemed one of the best of his era. He was also a stout run-stuffer. In the trenches, there were few better.
Next, consistency. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find players more consistent than the great lineman. In today's game ends are judged almost exclusively on their sack numbers. Unfortunately, back in Marshall's era, the league didn't count sacks or quarterback hurries, although he is currently credited with 127 sacks. There is no discounting the fact that he could rush the passer and play the run well. Given the fact that he did it for such a long time brings in consistency, and brings us to the next aspect the voters look at -- longevity.
Marshall's career spanned 20 seasons (1960-1979). If the aforementioned consecutive games played didn't scream longevity, nothing will. It's safe to say two decades of football constitutes as longevity.
Next up is leadership. To go along with the dominance he displayed at a consistent level for so many years, Marshall was also a great leader on and off the field. Upon retiring in '79, he was the final Vikings player from the expansion team of 1961. Being around a franchise for the amount of time the great defensive end was, it would be nearly impossible to not be a leader in one way or another. And displaying leadership isn't always being a vocal guy or taking rookies aside and bringing them under your wing. Leadership also includes going about your business, working hard, doing the right things, setting a good example for everyone else and not being a distraction. Marshall exemplified what a leader can be, whether he personally believes he was a leader on the team or not.
Finally, the one thing Marshall doesn't have that the committee looks at is Super Bowl rings. However, it shouldn't be held against him, as there are numerous Hall of Famers that were unable to capture a Super Bowl title. Also, there's no way he was the reason or one of the chief reasons for the Vikings' 0-4 record in the big game. While it is something the voters look at, it's hard to imagine it weighs too heavily, considering the other categories measured.
It is certainly quite puzzling to many that the well-deserving Marshall has yet to receive the anticipated phone call congratulating him on being elected to join the league's greatest in Canton.
So the question must be posed to the selection committee: Why isn't Jim Marshall in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Only they hold the answer.

[Buckskin86]

Tuesday, Jun. 02, 2009
Ex-Viking 'People Eater' became a people helper
By Merlene Davis - HERALD-LEADER COLUMNIST

Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall, a member of the famous "Purple People Eaters," excelled in the wrong profession to realize his desire for anonymity.

"I try to stay quiet and anonymous until people like you open my life," Marshall said last week when I called. "I don't even go to games. I don't like to sit in the stands with people jumping up and down. I feel safer on the football field, where you know the traffic flow."

As I said, wrong career choice to avoid reporters.



From 1960, when he played for the Cleveland Browns, and from 1961 to 1979,when he played for the Vikings, Marshall didn't miss a game, playing a position that is known to chew up and spit out players in less than half that time. Of a span of 282 games, he started in at least 270 games consecutively, a record.

He earned the nickname Iron Man by reporting to work game after game despite injuries and illnesses.

I wanted to talk to Marshall about his induction on June 19 into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I wanted to find out more about his Kentucky connection, one of the requirements for induction.

James L. Marshall, 71, was born in Wilsonville, a community near Parksville in Boyle County. It had been a hamlet for freed slaves after the Civil War.

"I was down there a year or two ago," he said. "We had our own school and church in Wilsonville. I went there to check on my relatives' graves and looked at the school my mother went to and my aunt taught in," he said.

It was a one-room school house that his aunt, Ella Mae Marshall, was working to preserve before she died in 2003.

"My aunt was the first special-education teacher in Boyle County," he said.

Marshall moved with his parents to Columbus, Ohio, when he was 5, but he said he never really left Kentucky.

"Every summer, I was back in Wilsonville with my grandfather," he said. His grandfather owned a farm there. "That continued until my grandfather died when I was 15."

It was his father and grandfather who molded him, he said.

"They taught me to go out and try to make things better," Marshall said. "If you can't improve it, don't touch it. I try to help people around me to realize their own personal health and to explore their growth and become good productive human beings in our society."

Marshall began playing football at Columbus East High School and later played at Ohio State University, where he became an All-American. He skipped his senior year in 1959 to play football with Saskatchewan in the Canadian Football League because that's what his buddies were doing. After a year there, he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. He landed in Minnesota in 1961, where he ended his career after 18 years.

Ex-Viking 'People Eater' became a people helper - Sports - Kentucky.com

[ScriptOhio]

Jim Marshall had a terrific 20-year career in the NFL. He set numerous records for endurance, having played in 282 consecutive games, and was among the all-time leaders in sacks and fumble recoveries. He is also known for committing one of the most embarrassing, miscues in the history of the NFL.

In a Sunday contest against the San Francisco 49ers, the Vikings defensive end recovered a fumble at the Niners' 34. But Marshall had been hit on the play and somehow thought that he was facing the scoring end when he picked up the football. To the other Vikings' horror, Marshall scooped up the ball and continued running 66 yards down the opposite end of the field. When he reached his own end zone, he flipped the ball out of bounds in celebration, only to be told by his teammates that he his touchdown run was actually a safety. (His -66-yard play is recognized as the shortest, most negative-gaining play in the history of the NFL.)

Marshall's highlight was replayed over and over again to audiences who could care less about his consecutive games record. It became the defining moment of his career, and temporarily made him a laughingstock in the public's spotlight. Roy Riegels, who became nationally famous for making the exact same mistake 35 years earlier, sent Marshall a letter titled, "Welcome to the club."




Unlike other sports figures who made horrible mistakes, Marshall was able to laugh at himself and avoid resentment from the fans. Marshall's wrong-way run occurred in a meaningless regular season while Riegels' faux pas happened during the Rose Bowl. Riegels' gaffe cost his team the game, while the Minnesota Vikings were able to at least pull out a win. In fact, Marshall forced a fumble later that game that led to a teammate scoring the game-winning touchdown.

"I never get credit for that fumble," Marshall later joked.

10/25/1964 - Jim Marshall runs the wrong way

YouTube - Wrong Way