Jim Marshall (defensive end)

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Jim Marshall
Jim Marshall DE (cropped).png
No. 80, 70
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1937-12-30) December 30, 1937 (age 84)
Wilsonville, Kentucky
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school:East (Columbus, Ohio)
College:Ohio State (1956–1958)
NFL Draft:1960 / Round: 4 / Pick: 44
(by the Cleveland Browns)[1]
AFL Draft:1960 / Round: 
(by the Houston Oilers)[2]
Career history
  • Saskatchewan Roughriders (1959)
  • Cleveland Browns (1960)
  • Minnesota Vikings (1961–1979)
Career highlights and awards
  • NFL champion (1969)
  • 3× Second-team All-Pro (1964, 1968, 1969)
  • 2× Pro Bowl (1968, 1969)
  • Minnesota Vikings No. 70 retired
  • Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
  • 50 Greatest Vikings
  • Minnesota Vikings 25th Anniversary Team
  • Minnesota Vikings 40th Anniversary Team
  • National champion (1957)
Career NFL statistics
Games played:282
Games started:270
Fumbles recovered:30
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

James Lawrence Marshall (born December 30, 1937) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns (1960) and the Minnesota Vikings (1961–1979) in the National Football League (NFL). At the time of his retirement, he owned the career records for most consecutive starts (270) and games played (282), which both still stand as records for a defensive player in any position. He still holds the NFL record for most fumbles recovered (30) in a career.

Marshall is infamous for his "wrong-way run", a play in which he recovered a fumble and returned it 66 yards in the wrong direction into his own end zone, where he threw the ball out of bounds, resulting in a safety for the San Francisco 49ers.

Early life[]

Marshall was born in Wilsonville, in Boyle County, Kentucky.[3]

Football career[]

Marshall played college football at Ohio State University. He left school before his senior year, and played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He was then traded to the Browns in an NFL-CFL transaction, being swapped for Bob Ptacek. Marshall played the 1960 season with the Browns before being traded along with five other players (including fellow defensive lineman Paul Dickson) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for two draft picks in the 1962 NFL Draft.[4] He played from 1961 to 1979 with the Vikings and finished with a then-record 282 consecutive games played (since surpassed by punter Jeff Feagles).[5] Marshall started 270 consecutive games while playing for the Vikings, an NFL record since surpassed by Brett Favre.[6]

Marshall played in the Pro Bowl in 1968 and 1969. He recovered 30 fumbles during his career, an NFL record. He was a member of the Vikings' famous "Purple People Eaters" (which consisted of Marshall (DE), Alan Page (DT), Gary Larsen (DT), and Carl Eller (DE), and was the final player from Minnesota's initial expansion team of 1961 to retire. Marshall had 127 career quarterback sacks as a Viking, second-most in team history behind Eller.[7] [8]

Marshall is one of 11 players to have played in all four of the Vikings Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s.

Legacy[]

Marshall's No. 70 has been retired by the Vikings and he is a member of the team's Ring of Honor. In 2004, Marshall was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's second HOVG class.[9] Marshall was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004, but was not elected.

Marshall resides in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.[10]

The Wrong Way Run[]

During his time with the Minnesota Vikings, Marshall was playing in a game against the San Francisco 49ers on October 25, 1964.

After recovering an offensive fumble, Marshall ran 66 yards the wrong way into his team's own end zone.[11][12] After completing the run, thinking that he had scored a touchdown for the Vikings, Marshall then spiked the ball in celebration, and the ball landed out of bounds, resulting in a safety for the 49ers. According to Marshall, when he approached Vikings head coach Norm Van Brocklin afterwards, Van Brocklin said, "Jim, you did the most interesting thing in this game today."[13] Despite the gaffe, the Vikings won the game 27–22, thanks to a forced fumble by Marshall which Eller returned for a touchdown.

Marshall later received a letter from Roy Riegels, infamous for a wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl, stating, "Welcome to the club."[14] In 2019, Marshall's miscue was ranked No. 54 among the NFL's 100 Greatest Plays.[15]

NFL records[]

  • Most seasons played by a defensive player: 20 (tied with Darrell Green and Junior Seau)
  • Most complete seasons played by a defensive player: 20
  • Most consecutive games played by a defensive player: 282
  • Most consecutive regular-season games played by a defensive player: 270
  • Most consecutive game starts by a defensive player: 270
  • Most consecutive regular-season starts played by a defensive player: 270
  • Most fumbles recovered: 30
  • Most opponent's fumbles recovered: 29
  • Most yardage lost on a fumble recovery: 66

See also[]

  • Iron man
  • Own goal

References[]

  1. ^ "1960 Cleveland Browns". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "American Football League Draft - 1960". remembertheafl.com. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Original Viking Paul Dickson dies". Star Tribune.
  5. ^ Jeff Feagles Giants Player Bio
  6. ^ NFL.com: Vikings QB Favre 'grateful' after his NFL-record 271st start in a row
  7. ^ "Vikings: Ring of Honor". Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  8. ^ Pro Football Hall of Fame
  9. ^ "Hall of Very Good". Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  10. ^ Cash, Rana. "Vikings great Jim Marshall's Pro Football Hall of Fame bid denied yet again". Star Tribune.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 13, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "This Day in NFL History: Jim Marshall runs the wrong way". NFL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  13. ^ Hambrick, David Z. (February 23, 2016). "The Psychology of the Breathtakingly Stupid Mistake". Scientific American. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  14. ^ Marshall's claim during his appearance on I've Got A Secret following the incident.
  15. ^ "'NFL 100 Greatest'No. 54: Jim Marshall runs the wrong way for a safety". NFL.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
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