For me he was always Captain Jim. For him I was always Groucho.
In the nearly 50 years I knew him before he died on Tuesday at the age of 87, Jim Marshall was always so nice and friendly with a great personality and greeted me with a big smile, if I was a Vikings PR -Stagia who set up media -interviews for him as the team surgery coordinator when I was in the past and in the past I moved back and in the past I moved back and in the past I moved back and in the past I was in and in and in the past him and in the past him and in the past and in the past I was in and in and in the past him and in the past him and in the past him and in the past him and in the past and in the past him and in the past him and in the past and in the past him and in the past him and in the past. events.
Former Vikings General Manager Jeff Diamond remembers Jim Marshall, who died this week.
My favorite memories from my 28-year-old NFL-Front Office career are the players, coaches and employees with whom I worked, who often became lifelong friends. Jim Marshall is certainly high on that list for me.
I met Jim for the first time as a 22-year-old Vikings PR trainee from the university. As part of my internship project in the spring of 1976 I wrote a book named ‘The First Fifteen Years’, which treated the early years of the Vikings franchise.
Of course one of my chapters was entitled ‘The Amazing Jim Marshall’. When I interviewed him, he immediately gave me the nickname ‘Groucho’, while he thought that my appearance, with mustaches and glasses, looked like that of the famous comedian and actor.
I thought by the time that training camp was opened in Mankato in July 1976, he had forgotten his nickname for me. On the contrary, he greeted me on the Gage Hall agency on the opening day with a loud “Groucho”, and Fran Talkenton and the rest of the team quickly picked it up.
That is the kind of leader that Jim Marshall was, because his teammates always followed his lead. Of course he was a great player with more than 130 career bags, an NFL record 29 opponents FUMBLES restored and incredible durability (282 consecutive regular seasonal matches played with 270 Starts, both NFL plates for a defense player, and his 289 consecutive games, including Playoff).). Jim’s no. 70 is one of only six retired sweater numbers of the Vikings.
But apart from a fantastic and sustainable player, he was called Bud Grant, the “Bell Cow” of those large Vikings teams of the late 1960s and through the 1970s those championships were about the multi-year division and a four-time super bowl participant.
The term “team leader” is often used loosely and may not always apply accurately. In the case of Jim Marshall it was definitely an appropriate description. Bud Grant immediately recognized it in his first season as a Vikings head coach in 1967 and made Marshall the defensive captain. Bud has often said that as soon as Jim had bought his coaching style, it made the way for the rest of the team to follow.
Bud also said that a player cannot reach a quantity without sustainability. Marshall was the embodiment of a sustainable football player in a sport where injuries occur. It was incredible to see him play so many injuries and never miss a start in his 19-year-old Vikings career. For a long time Vikingshoofd Athletic trainer Fred Zamerletti would tell how Marshall’s was only so heavily sprained in a game, but he would first be in the line on the next game day on the correct defense of the Purple People on the next game day.
Jim told me back in that 1976 interview that he had a “real relationship between his mind and his body, this harmony that enables me to keep playing, even under very unfavorable circumstances.”
Grant paid tribute to Marshall’s sustainability and love for the game by saying: “He is just one of those rare people whose system heals quickly. He has learned to live with pain, and his body has the resilience to respond to what he wants. And Jim likes to play football. He has a lot of enthusiasm for the game.”
Tarkton was a great leader in attack and one of the most sustainable quarterbacks in the NFL history, and he called Marshall “the face of the Vikings … The greatest leader with whom I have ever played and the most amazing man I know. He just puts the pain out of his mind. I believe that he can’t endure.”
That was further proven by Jim’s off-the-field efforts, including the survival of a hang-glider crash and a snowstorm in Wyoming during a snowmobile trip, where he had to burn money to stay warm, resulting in the loss of one person’s life.
Jim was also active in supporting charity causes, such as The linkA non-profit Minneapolis that he co-founded with former teammate Oscar Reed. The link works with young people and families to overcome poverty and social injustice.
It was great to see the tribute come in from his Vikings teammates such as Tarrenton, Alan Page, Carl Eller, Chuck Foreman and Ahmad Rashad.
One of my lasting memories of the tight bond between Bud Grant and Jim Marshall came to a press conference that we had before the last match of Jim in 1979. Jim was there, and while Bud spoke about Jim’s fantastic career and his interest for the team as the defensive captain, Bud started crying. I had never seen him do that before. That spoke volumes about his feelings for Jim.
I think it is absurd and a travesty that Jim is not anchored in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Maybe it will eventually happen as a senior inductee, but that would be a shame; He did not live to experience its sensation in Canton.
The Hall of Fame voters are sometimes too focused on Pro Bowls (Jim was selected twice) and all-pro enrivals (he was a second team All-Pro three times). Jim’s 130 bags and 29 quarrel recovery are half -quality, just like his lifetime records, who only earn Hall of Fame Enshrinement, along with his leadership and dedication to the game.
Jim Marshall was the embodiment of a professional football player who loved the game, the competition and his teammates and was a great person who will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him well.
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former president of Tennessee Titans and was selected NFL director of the year after the 15-1 season of the Vikings in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work together with college/corporate. Follow him and send him a message on twitter – @Jeffdiamondnfl
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