EAGAN, Minn. — Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall, one of the four members of the famed Purple People Eaters front that formed the backbone of four Super Bowl teams, died Tuesday after a long hospitalization for an undisclosed illness. He was 87.
The Vikings announced Marshall’s death on behalf of his wife, Susan. The native of Kentucky, who played at Ohio State and was drafted in 1960 by the Cleveland Browns, played 19 of his 20 NFL seasons in Minnesota.
The two-time Pro Bowl pick set a league record for position players with 282 consecutive regular-season games played, a mark Marshall held until quarterback Brett Favre broke it, coincidentally, with the Vikings in 2010.
“No player in Vikings history lived the ideals of toughness, camaraderie and passion more than the all-time iron man,” Vikings owners Mark Wilf and Zygi Wilf said in a statement the team distributed. “A cornerstone of the franchise from the beginning, Captain Jim’s unmatched durability and quiet leadership earned the respect of teammates and opponents throughout his 20-year career.
“Jim led by example, and there was no finer example for others to follow. His impact on the Vikings was felt long after he left the field. Jim will always be remembered as a tremendous player and person. Our hearts are with his wife, Susan, and all of Jim’s loved ones.”
Though the NFL didn’t officially track sacks until 1982, Pro Football Reference recently completed a retroactive compilation of the primary pass-rushing statistic and credited Marshall with 130½ sacks, which is tied for 22nd all time. Two other Purple People Eaters rank ahead of him: Hall of Famers Alan Page (148½, eighth) and Carl Eller (133½, tied for 18th).
Marshall remains the NFL’s career record holder, tied with Jason Taylor, for fumbles recovered with 29. One of those infamously came on Oct. 25, 1964, at San Francisco when, after the Vikings forced the 49ers’ Billy Kilmer to cough up the ball, Marshall scooped it up and scampered 66 yards into the end zone — the wrong way.
After he tossed the ball in the air and turned toward the touchdown celebration he was expecting with his teammates, Marshall stopped in his tracks and put his hands on his hips in disbelief upon realizing he had cost his team a safety. The Vikings went on to win 27-22.
“It took a lot of guts for me to go back on that field because I took football very seriously and I had made the biggest mistake that you could probably make,” Marshall once said in an interview with NFL Films for a segment on the NFL’s worst plays.
Marshall took the gaffe in stride, a graciousness made easier by his stature on the team and within the league. Long a favorite of hard-nosed coach Bud Grant, Marshall played through the 1979 season, his final game coming two weeks before his 42nd birthday.
“Maybe we’ve taken it for granted that Jim Marshall plays hurt,” Grant said after Marshall announced his retirement. “But durability is the most important ability you have. You can’t achieve greatness without durability, and that is personified in Jim Marshall.
“He has been hurt. But he doesn’t break. He bends. He heals. He has a high pain threshold. Jim not only plays hurt, he plays as well when he’s hurt as when he isn’t. That’s what’s important.”
After Favre broke Marshall’s record of 270 consecutive regular-season starts in 2009, the Vikings invited Marshall to their practice facility to speak to the players. He was asked in an interview session with reporters what he thought about a quarterback overtaking his prized mark.
“He’s the guy we were trying to hurt,” Marshall said with a laugh. “Every defensive lineman that he plays against is trying to hurt him. That’s a tough way to earn a living.”
Marshall’s determination and longevity took its physical toll, like many of his peers from an era when player safety and injury prevention were minimal. In an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2017, Marshall recounted his long list of post-career surgeries on his knees, ankles, hips, shoulders, back, neck, heart, eyes and ears.
“I didn’t quite accomplish all the things I wanted to, but I sure tried,” Marshall said. “I sacrificed. I gave it my best shot.”
