Subject: Darryl Stingley RIP

For those not old enough to remember the story of Darryl Stingley is as infuriating as it is sad.  It is considered one of the worst moments in sports history

sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/05/sports/s051656D93.DTL

Darryl Stingley, paralyzed after a vicious hit during an NFL exhibition game nearly 30 years ago, died Thursday. He was 55.
Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after he was found unresponsive in his Chicago home, according to Tony Brucci, an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The cause of death was not immediately available. An autopsy was scheduled.
Stingley, a star receiver with the New England Patriots, was left a quadriplegic after he was hit from behind by Oakland's Jack Tatum while trying to catch a pass. The hit on Aug. 12, 1978 broke Stingley's neck, and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Stingley regained limited movement in his right arm and operated his electric wheelchair on his own. Tatum's hit on Stingley ignited debates about the violence of the game and made Tatum, who had a reputation as one of the game's fiercest defenders, a subject of controversy. The two players never reconciled. In 1996, they were supposed to meet for a TV appearance, but Stingley called it off after being told it was to publicize Tatum's book: "Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum."
Darryl Stingley was born and raised in Chicago. A star running back at John Marshall High School, he attended Purdue on a football scholarship. In 1973, he was a first-round draft pick of the Patriots, owned by Robert Kraft.