Per NFL.com:

Jack Tatum, an All-Pro safety for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s and one of the most feared hitters in NFL history, died Tuesday. He was 61.

Tatum, who was nicknamed “The Assassin,” suffered a heart attack in an Oakland hospital, said John Hicks, his friend and former Ohio State teammate. Hicks said Tatum had diabetes the last several years and also lost his left leg because of circulation problems.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of Jack Tatum’s passing,” the Raiders said in a statement. “Jack was a true Raider champion and a true Raider warrior. .. Jack was the standard bearer and an inspiration for the position of safety throughout college and professional football.”

Tatum, a first-round draft pick by the Raiders in 1971, might be best known for his hit that paralyzed New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley during an NFL preseason game on Aug. 12, 1978. Stingley ran head-on into Tatum on a crossing pattern, and the safety’s blow severed the receiver’s fourth and fifth vertebrae, leaving him paralyzed.

The two men never met after the hit. Stingley died in 2007.

Despite Tatum’s failure to show remorse, Hicks said his friend was haunted by the play.

“It was tough on him, too,” Hicks said. “He wasn’t the same person after that. For years, he was almost a recluse.”

Tatum had said he tried to visit Stingley at an Oakland hospital shortly after the collision but was turned away by the receiver’s family members.

“It’s not so much that Darryl doesn’t want to, but it’s the people around him,” Tatum told the Oakland Tribune in 2004. “So we haven’t been able to get through that. Every time we plan something, it gets messed up. Getting to him or him getting back to me, it never happens.”

Part of the alienation came after Tatum wrote the 1980 book, “They Call Me Assassin,” in which he was unapologetic for his headhunting ways. Tatum also wrote books titled “They Still Call Me Assassin: Here We Go Again” in 1989 and “Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin” in 1996.

In the latter, Tatum wrote, “I was paid to hit, the harder the better. And I hit, and I knocked people down and knocked people out. … I understand why Darryl is considered the victim. But I’ll never understand why some people look at me as the villain.”

Tatum wasn’t penalized for his hit on Stingley, and the NFL took no disciplinary action, although it did tighten its rules on violent hits.

Despite their lingering resentment, Stingley was gracious in 2003 when he learned that Tatum had diabetes and several toes amputated.

“You can’t, as a human being, feel happy about something like that happening to another human being,” Stingley told The Boston Globe.

Tatum began a charitable group to assist kids with diabetes and helped raise more than $1.4 million to fight the disease in the Columbus area.

Tatum also was a central figure in “The Immaculate Reception” during the Raiders’ 1972 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With 22 seconds left in the game, Tatum jarred loose a pass to Frenchy Fuqua. The ball bounced off Fuqua’s foot and ricocheted into the arms of Steelers running back Franco Harris, who never broke stride and ran 42 yards for the winning touchdown.

Tatum started 106 of 120 games and had 30 interceptions in nine seasons with the Raiders, whom he helped win Super Bowl XI in the 1976 season. Tatum played his final NFL season with the Houston Oilers in 1980.

“R.I.P. Jack Tatum the assassin,” current Raiders safety Michael Huff wrote on Twitter after learning of Tatum’s death. “One of the best safetys to ever play this game, his legacy will live forever.”

Tatum grew up in New Jersey and had little interest in organized sports until high school. However, he grew to love football and was offered a scholarship to Ohio State.

Recruited as a running back, Tatum would sneak over to the defensive side to play linebacker. In time, Ohio State coaches — particularly secondary coach Lou Holtz — recognized that Tatum was a natural on defense.

Tatum was a part of the “super sophs” class that led Ohio State to an unbeaten season and the national championship in 1968. He stole the headlines in a showdown with No. 1 Purdue early in the season, shadowing All-American running back Leroy Keyes in the Buckeyes’ 13-0 upset of the Boilermakers.

In his three years as a starter at Ohio State, Tatum’s teams went 27-2 and won two Big Ten Conference titles.

Each week after an Ohio State game, the coaching staff awards the “Jack Tatum hit of the week” award for the hardest tackle or block by a Buckeye.

“We have lost one of our greatest Buckeyes,” current Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement released by the school. “When you think of Ohio State defense, the first name that comes to mind is Jack Tatum. His loss touches every era of Ohio State players and fans.”

Tatum is a member of the Ohio State and college football halls of fame.

Per Destructoid:

EA Sports has confirmed that its upcoming sports monster title, Madden NFL 11, will ship on a disc that features music. Some music you’ve heard before, some you haven’t, and some you wished you didn’t have to. But here they are, the 23 tracks you’ll be listening to as you sack, juke, and touchdown all over digital stadiums this August.

The song listing will consist of original recordings, cover tracks, and a team fight songs. Also, not one, but two Ozzy Osbourne songs — “Let Me Hear Your Scream” and “Crazy Train.” The former probably included as a requisite to get the rights to the latter, because “Crazy Train” is awesome and that other song is just some new Ozzy song that was on CSI.

Original Recordings:

• AC/DC – Thunderstruck
• Archie Eversole – We Ready
• Blur – Song 2
• Bush – Machinehead
• Guns N’ Roses – Welcome to the Jungle
• Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil’ Wayne – Let It Rock
• Kiss – Rock and Roll All Nite
• Ozzy Osbourne – Let Me Hear You Scream
• Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train
• The Hives – Tick Tick Boom
• Todd Rundgren – Bang the Drum
• Ying Yang Twins featuring Homebwoi – Halftime

Cover Versions:

• Rock N Roll Part 2 – as made famous by Gary Glitter
• We Will Rock You – as made famous by Queen
• Crowd Chant – as made famous by Joe Satriani
• Kernkraft 400 – as made famous by Zombie Nation

Team Fight Songs:

• Chicago Bears – Bear Down Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions – Gridiron Heroes
• Green Bay Packers – Go Packers Go!
• Miami Dolphins – Miami Dolphins #1
• Minnesota Vikings – Skol Vikings
• Philadelphia Eagles – Fly Eagles Fly
• Washington Redskins – Hail to the Redskins

Per NFL.com:

The Tennessee Titans are suing USC football coach Lane Kiffin and the school for “maliciously” luring away running backs coach Kennedy Pola just one week before training camp, The Tennessean first reported Monday.

Tennessee Football Inc., the company that owns the Titans, filed the lawsuit Monday in Davidson County Chancery Court. The suit accuses Kiffin and USC of violating Pola’s contract, which required him to have written permission to discuss a job with anyone other than the Titans.

The Titans hired Pola away from the Jacksonville Jaguars in January, only to lose him Saturday to USC, where he will be the Trojans’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

“USC and Kiffin maliciously intended to — and did — induce Pola to breach the Pola contract,” the lawsuit charges. “USC and Kiffin engaged in improper means in their procurement of the breach and were not legally justified in their actions. Kiffin and USC’s actions, through him, were part of a course and pattern of conduct fostered by Kiffin and USC to use improper methods and means to the direct harm and damage of parties to contracts …”

The Titans declined to comment beyond the lawsuit Monday when contacted by The Associated Press.

Pola informed coach Jeff Fisher of his decision to leave the Titans on Saturday. Pola played fullback at USC from 1982 to 1985 and was the Trojans’ running backs and special teams coach from 2000 to 2003.

Fisher, also a former USC player, told The Tennessean on Saturday that Kiffin never contacted him during the hiring process.

“I am very disappointed in Lane Kiffin’s approach to this,” Fisher said. “Typically speaking when coaches are interested in hiring or discussing potential employment from coaches on respective staffs there is a courtesy call made from the head coach or athletic director indicating there is an interest in talking to the assistant.

“So I am very disappointed in the lack of professionalism on behalf of Lane, to call me and leave me a voice mail after Kennedy had informed me he had taken the job. It is just a lack of professionalism.”

The lawsuit claims that “as a result of USC and Kiffin’s tortuous conduct, Tennessee (Titans) football has been damaged in an amount proven at trial.” Tennessee Football Inc. is asking for a jury trial and punitive damages and attorneys fees.

The lawsuit is particularly harsh on Kiffin, who coached the Oakland Raiders in 2007 and 2008, for what it calls intentional actions. Kiffin said he first spoke to Pola on Friday, then called Fisher on Saturday after Pola called him back, apparently to accept the job.

Kiffin acknowledged in a statement Saturday that the timing wasn’t perfect.

“I have spoken with Coach Fisher and he now has an accurate understanding of the timeline of events,” Kiffin said. “We realize the timing of this isn’t perfect for all parties, but this is a great opportunity and promotion for Kennedy.”

The lawsuit doesn’t hold back in criticizing Kiffin for “furtherance of a culture of violation and avoidance of respect for the sanctity of contract, which Kiffin similarly practices …” in inducing Pola to breach his contract.

The lawsuit notes that Kiffin “abruptly departed” his coaching job at the University of Tennessee in January after just 14 months, angering Volunteers fans. Kiffin also lured four other Tennessee assistants to join him at USC, and the lawsuit also notes how the coach tried to hire Eric Bienemy away from the Minnesota Vikings, forcing that team to redo a contract to keep him.

This isn’t the first time that Kiffin has been accused of “inducing” an NFL assistant coach to breach his contract. When Kiffin became Tennessee’s coach in 2009, he drew the Raiders’ ire for hiring assistant offensive line coach James Cregg for the same position with the Volunteers, found in a letter sent to the university by the team and obtained by The San Francisco Chronicle. USC announced this January that Cregg was leaving the Vols to join Kiffin’s Trojans staff as an assistant.

Pola’s contract ran at least to Feb. 14, 2011, with the NFL in the final year of its current labor agreement with the players.

The lawsuit notes that written permission from the president and general counsel was needed because verbal “consent is inadequate.” The lawsuit also notes that USC and Kiffin, through Pola, knew about his contract requirements.

“Pola was not given express written consent by Tennessee Football or the Commissioner of the NFL to entertain employment with any other entity,” the lawsuit argues.

The move left the Titans without a running backs coach one week before training camp opens, which the lawsuit argues disrupts planning, causes “potential loss of confidence by players” and the loss of salary and benefits already paid to Pola along with “future damage.”

Per NFL.com:

Bengals owner Mike Brown is trying to produce his own reality show.

Terrell Owens. Chad Ochocinco. Together in Cincinnati.

Brown said Monday that the team has discussed a contract with Owens and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. The Bengals passed on the chance to sign the 36-year-old receiver after a March tryout, but they have given it more thought now that Owens remains a free agent.

“It’s up to him,” Brown said at the Bengals’ annual preseason luncheon. “We are talking to him. We have some interest.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Bengals made an official offer Monday and hope to have Owens’ answer by Wednesday. That’s when the Bengals are scheduled to report to training camp in Georgetown, Ky., with the first practice set for Thursday.

Owens will not have to make a decision about possibly joining the St. Louis Rams. A team source told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora that the Rams, who were two of several teams that had maintained contact with Owens this offseason, decided against offering him a deal.

That leaves the Bengals as the only team that’s publicly in the mix. While discussing his interest in Owens, Brown noted that the receiver caught the winning 57-yard touchdown pass during the Dallas Cowboys‘ 31-22 victory over the Bengals in 2008.

“I think that I would rather have him line up on our side of the ball than the other side of the ball,” Brown said. “I can remember playing Dallas a few years ago when he caught a pass across the middle that won the game for them.

“So I’ve seen him do it. I’ve seen him do it against us. I’d like him to be here and do that against somebody else.”

So would Ochocinco, the Bengals receiver who’s a close friend of T.O. and unsuccessfully lobbied for the team to sign him in March. Instead, the Bengals chose wide receiver Antonio Bryant and gave him a four-year, $28 million contract with $8.5 million guaranteed. However, there have been concerns about Bryant’s health in organized team activities and minicamp, the Enquirer reported.

Another change since then: Cincinnati’s quarterback has joined the lobbying effort. Carson Palmer, who has been working out with Owens in California, excitedly called Bengals coach Marvin Lewis about making a run at the receiver.

“Carson was really impressed with a lot of the things that Terrell was doing,” Lewis said. “Carson’s comments to me — I guess the word is they resonate well.”

If they signed Owens, the Bengals would lead the league in reality TV show stars. Ochocinco appeared on “Dancing With the Stars” during the offseason and has a dating show called “Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch” currently playing on VH1. Right after Ochocinco’s show comes “The T.O. Show.”

While Ochocinco eliminated two contestants in a recent show, Owens donned a metrosexual look — bare chest under an open jacket — for a fashion show.

Ochocinco has resumed his Twitter lobbying to sign Owens. Last March, Ochocinco dubbed the two of them Batman (Owens) and Robin. Ochocinco believes Palmer, who wears No. 9, has more sway with the front office.

“im out of the loop now, i expressed my beliefs on why he should be here and that’s all i can do, (No.)9 has the real power,” Ochocinco tweeted.

But the final say rests with Brown, who has a history of giving chances to players with trouble in their past. He repeatedly brought back receiver Chris Henry, who was arrested five times and died last year in a fall of his fiancee’s truck.

In the last two years, the Bengals also have signed running back Cedric Benson, running back Larry Johnson and receiver Matt Jones, all of whom were let go by teams because of off-the-field issues.

In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Owens pointed out that he was on good behavior last season in Buffalo, where he caught 55 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns — his least-productive full season since early in his 14-year NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers.

“Yes, people can make mistakes,” Brown said Monday. “It doesn’t mean that they go on the rest of their lives making mistakes. They can get their ship pointed in the right direction. This is a 36-year-old man. He’s been through a lot. He’s proven as a player and as a person.”

Brown formed his opinion about Owens last March during a one-on-one meeting in conjunction with his tryout.

“When he was here, I was surprised,” Brown said. “I met with him personally and privately. He is not at all the way his public image is depicted. He’s a pleasant person, a quiet person. I found him engaging. And I do trust my own eyes on this sort of thing.

“I think that if he chose to come here, that he could help our team, and we’ll see how that plays out. It’s going to be his decision.”

Lewis denied last week that the team needed Owens, telling the team’s official Web site, “I don’t want to speak (about Terrell). We’ve been down that road. I don’t have a concern that we need to add anybody (at receiver).” But Lewis changed his tune Monday, saying the Bengals’ goals and Owens’ goals “match up.”

“He’s an effective player and you like what he brings,” Lewis said. “You like what people say about him who have had him on their football team to the positive, and we’ve just got to make sure none of the negative creeps in anymore. He’s been a couple of years beyond that.”

Rosenhaus didn’t return a message seeking comment Monday. He also represents Ochocinco, who’s entering the final season of his contract with the Bengals. The team has an option for an additional season in 2011.

Per NFL.com:

Dallas Cowboys rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant said he’s in training camp to catch passes, not carry somebody else’s shoulder pads after practice.When wideout Roy Williams handed his pads to Bryant on Sunday after the Cowboys’ morning session, the first-round draft pick didn’t carry them. Veteran players traditionally hand their pads to a rookie after practice.

“I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads,” Bryant said. “If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing.”

Williams said every rookie has to go through such rituals during their first NFL season. He said he carried pads and paid for meals when he was a rookie for the Detroit Lions in 2004.

“No matter if you’re a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you’ve still got to do something when you’re a rookie,” Williams said.

When Bill Parcells was with the Cowboys, the team’s top pick was responsible for taking water to the coach during breaks at training camp. Current coach Wade Phillips doesn’t have such a requirement.

While some believe Bryant could challenge Williams for the starting job opposite Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin, there have been no apparent issues between the receivers. After camp opened Saturday with a practice without pads, Williams called Bryant a great player and said he was glad the Cowboys drafted the former Oklahoma State star.

“Controversy is what everybody loves, try to pin him against me, me against him, and it’s not going to work,” Williams said Saturday.

Per Shutdown Corner:

Very sad news from Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Kaye Cowher (pictured, far left), wife of ex-Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, lost her battle with skin cancer and passed away on Friday in North Carolina at the age of 54.Mrs. Cowher was a native of North Carolina - the Cowhers met while attending North Carolina State in 1976 - and the Cowhers moved there after Bill retired from coaching in January of 2007.

Services will be held on Monday.

Mrs. Cowher played basketball at North Carolina State, and was one of the first women in her home state to receive an athletic scholarship, according to Bouchette. She later played in the Women’s Professional Basketball League until that league folded in 1981. She then married her husband, who was playing for the Cleveland Browns. The Cowhers’ three daughters, Meagan, Lauren, and Lindsay, have all been basketball players, speaking to the strong influence of their mother — and grandmother. Their father originally didn’t want them to play, but was overruled by Mrs. Cowher’s mother.

“The reason we played is because of my mother,” Kaye Cowher told the Post-Gazette in 2002. “She said that absolutely, these girls are going to have the opportunity to play.”

Perhaps the most abiding public memory of Mrs. Cowher is the hug she gave her husband after the Pittsburgh Steelers lost Super Bowl XXX to the Dallas Cowboys. She was, according to Bouchette, a regular presence in press boxes on Steelers game days.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Cowher family.

Per NFL.com:

Several NFL teams, including the St. Louis Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, have maintained contact with free-agent wide receiver Terrell Owens this offseason. However, a Rams source scoffed at a report that the team was in serious pursuit of Owens or aggressively courting him, calling it “overzealous.”

Also, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was dismissive of the idea of signing Owens during a Tuesday interview with the team’s official Web site. Said Lewis: “We’ve been down that road. I don’t have a concern that we need to add anybody (at receiver).”

Owens has made no secret of his desire to join Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati and visited the Bengals early in the offseason, but they haven’t offered a deal that has gotten his attention. Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, also said Friday that a report the receiver would sign with the Bengals and a deal was imminent was “not true.”

The reality is any team that truly wanted Owens could make a substantial offer and expedite a move. And at this stage in free agency — six months into the process for a healthy player such as Owens — there isn’t a whole lot of courting and pursuing that needs to be done. Rosenhaus sent out communications to all NFL teams throughout the offseason, letting them know the general salary parameters that his clients, including Owens, are seeking.

Furthermore, Owens is trying to catch on with a contender if at all possible, and teams such as the Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who could use him — don’t meet that criteria. It’s also unlikely that those teams would make a substantial financial contribution for a 36-year-old player who in essence would be a one-year rental.

“It has to be the right situation for me,” Owens told NFL Network’s Stacey Dales on Friday. “I’m going in on my 15th season, so I want to go to a team that’s on the cusp of making it to the playoffs and really having a team really want me and feel that I can come in and be an asset to their ballclub. Other than that, I’m still working out and keeping myself in shape, and I’ll be ready.”

Still, it would be stunning if Owens isn’t signed at some point during training camp and the preseason. Rosenhaus has said he anticipates a deal in the coming week or weeks.

Per Shutdown Corner:

The Josh McDaniels administration has chased off most of the disgruntled Denver Broncos players it inherited - Jay Cutler(notes), Brandon Marshall(notes), and Tony Scheffler(notes) have all been knifed out of the picture since McDaniels took over for the fired Mike Shanahan before the 2009 season. However, defensive end/linebacker Elvis Dumervil(notes), who was engaging in his own contract squabbles after finding himself stuck with a one-year, $3.168 million tender offer as a restricted free agent, now finds himself among the highest-paid defenders in the NFL.The Broncos announced on Thursday that Dumervil agreed to terms on a five-year, $61.5 million contract extension that will take him through the 2015 season and pay him $43.156 million guaranteed. The deal is similar to the one struck by the Baltimore Ravens and Terrell Suggs(notes) in July of 2009 - that deal gave Suggs $62.5 million over six years, and $38.1 million guaranteed (including a $23 million roster bonus in March of 2010).

As good as Suggs has been, it’s easy to argue that the deal for Dumervil is a bargain in comparison if the Denver pass rusher maintains the standards he set in 2009. Dumervil didn’t just lead the NFL with 17 sacks; he also added 20 quarterback hurries, four quarterback hits, and four forced fumbles (the picture above could explain why Jamarcus Russell(notes) needed all that purple drank). These totals were especially impressive considering Dumervil’s move from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense and the relatively thin support he’s received through his career from complementary pass rushers - throughout his four-year career, Dumervil has regularly ranked high among pass rushers with the highest team percentages of quarterback disruptions. On the other hand, Suggs showed up to training camp out of shape in 2009 and amassed just 4½ sacks, two hits, 14 hurries, and one forced fumble. And this with a much better defense around him.

Dumervil may have a slightly tougher time in Denver’s 2010 defense with coordinator Mike Nolan off in Miami, only to be replaced by a guy named Don “Wink” Martindale, but it’s good to see the Broncos pony up for one of their stars instead of petulantly draining the roster dry any time someone offends His Joshness with a compensation concern.

Per NFL.com:

The Dallas Cowboys have agreed to terms with wide receiver Dez Bryant, their first-round draft choice.

No terms have been announced. Bryant is the first player from the draft’s first round to agree to terms.

Bryant was taken with the 24th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

The former Oklahoma State wide receiver took part in minicamp and will be present when the Cowboys open training camp July 24 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.