Jim Marshall (American football)

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For other persons named Jim Marshall, see Jim Marshall (disambiguation).

Jim Marshall
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Position(s): Defensive End	Jersey #(s): 70
Born: December 30, 1937 (1937-12-30) (age 70) Danville, Kentucky
Career Information
Year(s): 1960–1979
NFL Draft: 1960 / Round: 4 / Pick: 44
College: Ohio State
Professional Teams
Cleveland Browns (1960) Minnesota Vikings (1961-1979)
Career Stats
Sacks	127
Games	282
Safeties	1
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
Pro Bowl (x2) (1968, 1969) Minnesota Vikings #70 Retired NFL record 282 consecutive games played by a Defensive End NFL record 270 consecutive starts played by any player NFL Record 29 Opponents Fumbles Recovered in Career NFL Record Shortest Play at -66 Yards

Jim Marshall (born December 30, 1937 Danville, Kentucky) 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 drafted in the 4th round of the 1960 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Marshall played the 1960 season with the Browns. He played from 1961 to 1979 with the Minnesota Vikings. He played in and started 282 consecutive games, a record since surpassed by Jeff Feagles. It still stands as a record for consecutive starts.^[1]

He played in Pro Bowls after the 1968 and 1969 NFL seasons. He recovered 29 fumbles, an NFL record. He was a member of the Vikings' famous "Purple People Eaters", and was the final player from Minnesota's initial expansion team of 1961 to retire. The VIkings credit Marshall with 127 career quarterback sacks, second most in Viking History behind Carl Eller. ^[2]

Marshall was involved in an embarrassing professional moment on October 25, 1964. In a game against the San Francisco 49ers, Marshall recovered a fumble, but ran 66 yards with it the wrong way, into his own end zone. Thinking that he had scored a touchdown for the Vikings, Marshall then threw the ball away in celebration. The ball landed out of bounds, resulting in a safety for the 49ers. Fortunately for Marshall, his Vikings won the game 27-22, in part because of a key sack and fumble he forced after his miscue. Marshall later received a letter from Roy Riegels reading "Welcome to the club".^[3] While playing for the University of California, Riegels was tagged with the nickname "Wrong Way" after making a similar blunder in the 1929 Rose Bowl. Unlike Marshall's mistake, Riegels' run cost his team dearly; his two points proved to be the margin of defeat in an 8-7 loss.