Jim Marshall Dead At 87 - The Legendary Defender Forgotten by Canton
Former Minnesota Viking Jim Marshall, Who Passed Away At
The Age Of 87. Credit: Getty Images
On Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025, Legendary Minnesota Viking Jim Marshall passed away at the age of 87 following a long hospitalization according to the Vikings organization. Vikings Owners Mark and Zygi Wilf gave a brief statement across the team's social media pages, stating the following;
"The entire Minnesota Vikings organization is mourning the loss of Jim Marshall. No player in Vikings history lived the ideals of toughness, camaraderie, and passion more than the all-time iron man. A cornerstone of the franchise from the beginning, Captain Jim's unmatched durability and quiet leadership earned the respect of his 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 is wife, Susan, and all of Jim's loved ones."
Vikings legends also took time today to pay tribute to Marshall online today, as Vikings Hall Of Fame Defensive End John Randall posted to twitter a photo of himself and Marshall with the caption "My heart is very heavy hearing this news. Jim was an inspiration to me on and off the field. He will be missed, but his legacy will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with his wife and family."
Marshall lived a legendary NFL career, which makes it all the more tragic that he never got to see himself immortalized in football's version of Valhalla; the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Marshall was not elected to the hall while he was alive, despite all his accolades and legacy. Marshall deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, and his career should be able to speak for itself.
The Beginnings
Despite what some people may believe Marshall's illustrious professional football career actually didn't even start with the Vikings. Hell, it didn't start in the NFL at all. No, at the age of 22, Marshall was signed to the roster of the CFL's Saskatchewan Rough Riders. He would play there a single season before being traded to the NFL in a deal with the Cleveland Browns. After a single season in Cleveland, the team traded him to the expansion Minnesota Vikings, along with 5 other players, for 2 picks in the 1962 NFL Draft. After arriving in Minnesota, Marshall was placed in a medically-induced coma due to contracting Encephalitis from a mosquito bite. After a month in the hospital, and Marshall himself telling Dispatch Sports that he nearly died from the disease, Marshall showed up to Vikings Training Camp, having lost significant weight from his battle with his Encephalitis from the previous offseason, ready to prove himself again. Marshall played incredibly his first 6 years with Minnesota, proving himself to be an extremely talented and capable defensive player in Minnesota.
The Purple People Eaters
"The Purple People Eaters", one of the NFL's most renowned defensive groups. Credit: James Flores, Getty Images
In 1967, inaugural Vikings Head Coach Norm Van Brocklin was fired, and in his stead, the Vikings made a hire that changed the course of their franchise forever, and hired CFL coach Bud Grant to take the reigns of their franchise. In 1964, Marshall gained a prolific teammate on the line in Defensive End Carl Eller, and in 1965, the duo would gain another prolific teammate in Defensive Tackle Gary Larsen. Finally, in 1967, the fourth member of the line joined the fray in Alan Page. Together, Page, Eller, Larsen and Marshall would form one of the greatest defensive units of all time, so good they have a nickname that has stood the test of time; the Purple People Eaters.
The Moniker, an homage to a hit song by Sheb Wooley from 1958, became the calling card of the foursome along Minnesota's Defensive line. Minnesota had a cornerstone to build their team around, and they did just so. Over the course of the 11 years they were together, from 1967 to 1977, the team made 4 super bowls and won 107 of 154 games they played, largely thanks to the efforts of the Purple People Eaters, as well as Fran Tarkenton and Paul Krause. The team they built is still regarded by NFL fans as what is likely the best team of Vikings the franchise ever assembled.
Marshall was a huge part of that. Over his time in Minnesota, from 1961 to 1979, he played and started 270 games for the Vikings. Along with the 12 he'd played in Cleveland, he played 282 consecutive games and started 270 of those games, both records at the time. The two records wouldn't be broken until 2005 and 2009 respectively, by Jeff Feagles and Brett Favre respectively. Marshall was the iron man for that Vikings squad, an anchor for them to depend upon. Upon retirement, he was credited with 130.5 sacks on his career. At the time, it was the fourth-most sacks in a career for a defensive player, only behind 2 of his teammates, Eller and Page, and the great David "Deacon" Jones, who was the man who invented the term "Sack". As of 2025, he is still 22nd all-time, ahead of guys like J.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, and Von Miller, and even Hall Of Famer Charles Haley. Marshall was an all-time sack artist, even by today's standards, and tack on the unheard-of Iron Man streak he went on in the 60's and 70's, during an era of football that was equivalent to the wild west in terms of the level of violence allowed, his career is an astounding testament to the term "Sustained Excellence". Marshall averaged nearly 7 sacks a year for 20 damn years! that's an incredible career for a man who played until he was 42 damn years old. sustained excellence was the name of the game for a man who overcame an immense amount of adversity to continue to sustain that excellence, with the way his career began and the fight he had against encephalitis in the summer of 1961.
Canton, Ohio
This makes it all the more confounding that Jim Marshall, to this day, has not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. It has been 46 years since Marshall manned the end for the final time, and in the 41 years of eligibility he's had since becoming a hall of fame candidate, he hasn't gotten in. Hell, in the 41 years he's been an eligible player, he has been a finalist once.
one. time. only. In 40 years.
It's silly that Marshall isn't in there. for him to have only been a finalist once in 40 years is
outright ridiculous. The man has all the credentials, all the solo accolades you could want. Some may be looking at this and going "Wait, how isn't Marshall in the Hall of Fame with everything that I just read?" Well, I think 2 major problems are plaguing Marshall's Hall Candidacy. Firstly, and the smaller of the two issues, A plethora of his teammates are already in the Hall Of Fame. Paul Krause, Eller, and Page on the defense, and Fran Tarkenton and offensive linemen Ron Yary and Mick Tinglehoff on the offense, all of those men are Hall Of Famers. The Head Coach of those Vikings, Bud Grant, is also in the hall. It's hard to say "Marshall was a legendary player." when there were at least 6 legendary players around him for most, if not all, of his career. However, that isn't the reason he isn't in the hall. I know it, anyone who knows who Marshall is knows it. No, the real reason he isn't in the hall is much dumber than that. Marshall, during his tenure with the Vikings, Marshall committed what may be one of the biggest gaffe plays in NFL History.
outright ridiculous. The man has all the credentials, all the solo accolades you could want. Some may be looking at this and going "Wait, how isn't Marshall in the Hall of Fame with everything that I just read?" Well, I think 2 major problems are plaguing Marshall's Hall Candidacy. Firstly, and the smaller of the two issues, A plethora of his teammates are already in the Hall Of Fame. Paul Krause, Eller, and Page on the defense, and Fran Tarkenton and offensive linemen Ron Yary and Mick Tinglehoff on the offense, all of those men are Hall Of Famers. The Head Coach of those Vikings, Bud Grant, is also in the hall. It's hard to say "Marshall was a legendary player." when there were at least 6 legendary players around him for most, if not all, of his career. However, that isn't the reason he isn't in the hall. I know it, anyone who knows who Marshall is knows it. No, the real reason he isn't in the hall is much dumber than that. Marshall, during his tenure with the Vikings, Marshall committed what may be one of the biggest gaffe plays in NFL History.
October 25th, 1964. Vikings at 49ers. late into the 4th quarter, the Vikings are 10 points up on the scoreboard, leading the 49ers 27-17. Things looked to be going the Vikes' way yet again when Marshall recovered a forced fumble. He took off, heading right to the end zone. One problem; it was his end zone. Yes, Marshall ran the wrong way and scored on the Vikings, giving the Niners a free Safety. The Vikings still won that game, and the Niners could only capitalize with a field goal as their comeback stalled and the Vikings won the football game.
However, this moment left a permanent scar on Marshall's reputation. Marshall was in a weird situation; normally, when a player commits a flagrant error, such as Mark Sanchez running up his teammate's ass and fumbling a football, or Leon Lett letting Don Beebe chase him down as he runs away with a major Fumble Recovery in the Super Bowl, neither of those guys were ever going to be Hall Of Famers. Marshall had a legitimate chance, possibly the only guy I can think of who had a very notable gaffe and was a Hall of Fame Eligible individual. This put the voters for the Hall in an interesting situation; What does a moment like that do to a person's candidacy? Evidently, they said it would be the death of the discussion.
That being said, I think that's incredibly foolish. To me, that's just being unable to see the forest for the trees. Jim Marshall had a stupid play. That's undeniable, I don't care what you say. However, they won that game. The gaffe literally meant nothing. It was a blip in a legendary career. Instead of it being disregarded as the one in a million instance it was, it marred the rest of his career like a permanent thundercloud overhead of his eligibility, soiling it completely. I think that to view it that way is incredibly short-sighted, and what he brought to the Vikings organization completely and wholly outweighs what the boneheaded play ended up being. He should be in the Hall of Fame, full stop.
Conclusion.
The voters at the Pro Football Hall of Fame have continued to punish Jim Marshall for a single very ugly play, which was a complete outlier on his career and, in the grand scheme of the game it was committed in, didn't even matter. Marshall waited over 40 years because of this, and never ended up seeing himself get enshrined.
I think it's beyond time Marshall is inducted. It is a great shame he won't be alive to see himself get in, but that doesn't change the fact that he should be in the Hall. If it was my choice, He would be the Seniors candidate for 2026's class. He has been so deserving for so long, and has been continually given the short straw for a single outlier play.
It's time. Put Marshall in the Hall of Fame. For the iron-man streak that would remain unbeaten for over 30 years, for his role in one of the greatest defensive groupings in NFL history, and for being a continued example for the thing the Hall celebrates more than anything else; sustained excellence.
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