1. Darryl Floyd Stingley was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for five seasons with the New England Patriots of the National Football League.
18 Facts About Darryl Stingley
1. 2.
Darryl Stingley's career was ended at age 26 by an on-field spinal cord injury.
3.
Darryl Stingley died from heart disease and pneumonia complicated by quadriplegia.
4.
Darryl Stingley was a standout running back and honor student at John Marshall High School, and graduated in 1969.
5.
Darryl Stingley had 110 receptions for 1,883 yards and 14 touchdowns in 60 regular season games for the Patriots.
6.
Darryl Stingley had 28 carries for 244 yards and two touchdowns, 19 punt returns for 136 yards and eight kickoff returns for 187 yards.
7.
Darryl Stingley had over 500 combined yards rushing, receiving and returning both punt and kickoffs in 1973 and 1975.
8.
Darryl Stingley finished his career with 2,450 combined yards rushing, receiving, and returning both punts and kickoffs.
9.
Darryl Stingley is one of only three Patriots players to catch a touchdown pass on his birthday, and is the only wide receiver to run for a touchdown and have a touchdown reception on his birthday.
10.
Darryl Stingley's helmet made contact with Tatum's shoulder pad, compressing his spinal cord and breaking his fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae.
11.
Darryl Stingley eventually regained limited movement in his right arm but spent the rest of his life as a quadriplegic.
12.
The injury came just after Darryl Stingley had finished negotiating a contract extension that would have made him one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL.
13.
On May 9,1992, having completed his remaining 24 credit hours through a correspondence course program, Darryl Stingley received his bachelor of physical education from Purdue University.
14.
HBO invited both men to appear on the 25th anniversary of the incident but Darryl Stingley refused after he learned of the title of Tatum's 1996 biography, Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum, the third with that term in its title.
15.
However, in a 1992 article in Jet, Darryl Stingley said that while he had forgiven Tatum a long time ago, Tatum had opportunities to contact him any time after the injury but did not make an effort.
16.
Darryl Stingley later served as executive director of player personnel for the Patriots.
17.
Darryl Stingley co-authored a 1983 memoir, Happy to Be Alive, with Mark Mulvoy.
18.
Darryl Stingley's death was attributed to heart disease and pneumonia complicated by quadriplegia.