SAN JOSE, Calif. – Twenty-five years later, former Raiders wide receiver Morris Bradshaw can’t get the sound of teammate Jack Tatum’s collision with Darryl Stingley out of his head.

“It was one of the worst sounds that I’ve ever heard,” said Bradshaw, now the Oakland Raiders senior administrator. “In a full stadium, I do not believe I’d heard anything like that before and I’ve not heard anything like that since.”

Stingley’s neck was broken on the play that endures as one of the NFL’s most frightening and tragic moments. The damage to the spinal cord of the former New England Patriots wide receiver left him a quadriplegic.

Stingley, 51, now runs a foundation for underprivileged youth in his native Chicago. Back on Aug. 12, 1978, he was running a slant pattern in an exhibition game at the Oakland Coliseum when Tatum slammed into him in what was a life-changing hit.

“The pass came in a little high and I went up just to stab at it,” Stingley said. “I left myself suspended in mid-air. I remember looking him right in the face just before I got hit. Then I was on the ground and feeling like asking, “Wow, will someone please get this elephant off my chest?’ The thing was, I went down and there was no getting up.”

John Madden, then the Raiders coach, remains struck by the quickness of the play and its lasting consequences.

“They threw the slant and Jack was coming from one direction and Darryl the other,” said Madden, now the Monday Night Football analyst. “Darryl kind of laid out for it and they had the collision. It happened in a flash.”

Madden visited Stingley several times during Stingley’s lengthy stay at Castro Valley’s Eden Hospital, where he received his initial treatment. Stingley said he remains grateful to Madden for his frequent visits, which he said helped him get through some of his toughest hours.

A week ago, Madden was drawn back to that awful episode when Kansas City Chiefs tackle Willie Jones lay motionless on the turf after suffering a neck injury during the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio. Jones later regained feeling in his extremities and was released Wednesday from a hospital after a two-day stay.

“I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach when he didn’t get up right away. It was the same thing I felt that night with Darryl,” Madden said. “You never want to see a player, any player, go down and not get up. It’s a thing that doesn’t go away quickly.”

Tatum, 54, played until 1980 but friends say his approach to game was never the same after the hit on Stingley in 1978. They said he also became more withdrawn and continues to feel anguish over Stingley’s fate.

“It affected him big-time,” said George Atkinson, who played alongside Tatum in the Raiders secondary. “I mean, I saw Wendell Tyler run over Jack not long afterward, and that just didn’t happen before. His game was different. He was not as aggressive.”

Madden said after Stingley’s injury, Tatum “went into a shell. It’s a burden he’s had for a long time.”

Tatum, who is battling serious health problems that included the recent amputation of his left leg because of circulatory complications related to diabetes, could not be reached for comment.

He wrote that he was shattered by the thought “my tackle broke another man’s neck and killed his future,” according to his autobiography, “They Call Me Assassin.”

In a sequel to the book, Tatum added, “I’m sorry that I can’t change events, sorry that it happened, sorry that he didn’t jump up, sorry that nothing I ever do or say will make it better.”

But Tatum hasn’t expressed those thoughts to Stingley. The two haven’t spoken to each other since the tragedy.

For his part, Stingley said he let go any bitter feelings toward Tatum years ago.

“I’ve had a lot of time to heal and think,” he said.

While the injury put an end to his five-year NFL career, the former Purdue star and first-round pick of the Patriots will be getting some recognition for his on-field football exploits. On Oct. 18, he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at Chicago’s John Marshall High School.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Stingley said.

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(c) 2003, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

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AP-NY-08-12-03 1729EDT