Jim Marshall
Purple People Eaters defensive end who played 20 NFL seasons and holds records for fumble recoveries and consecutive starts.
Jim Marshall (December 30, 1937 - June 3, 2025) was an American football defensive end who played 20 NFL seasons, almost all of them with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was part of the Purple People Eaters line. He recovered an NFL-record 29 opponents' fumbles and holds the league marks for a defensive player of 270 consecutive starts and 282 games played.
Quick Facts
- Number
- 64, 80, 70
- Position
- Defensive end
- Born
- 30 December 1937
- Birthplace
- Wilsonville, Kentucky, U.S.
- Died
- 3 June 2025
- Place of death
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
- High school
- East (Columbus, Ohio)
- College
- Ohio State (1956–1958)
Facts from the source article.
Background
Born in Wilsonville, Kentucky, Marshall grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and played college football at Ohio State before joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian league. The Cleveland Browns drafted him in the fourth round in 1960, and after one season there he was traded to the Vikings. In 1964 he picked up a fumble and ran 66 yards the wrong way into his own end zone, then threw the ball out of bounds, giving the San Francisco 49ers a safety. The Vikings retired his number 70 and inducted him into their Ring of Honor.
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