Vikings' Purple People Eater Jim Marshall, the 'all-time iron man,' dies at 87

Dave Campbell · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 03, 2025 8:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Former Minnesota Vikings antiaircraft extremity Jim Marshall, 1 of the 4 members of the famed Purple People Eaters beforehand that formed the backbone of 4 Super Bowl teams, died Tuesday aft a agelong hospitalization for an undisclosed illness. He was 87.

The Vikings announced Marshall's decease connected behalf of his wife, Susan. The autochthonal of Kentucky, who played astatine Ohio State and was drafted successful 1960 by the Cleveland Browns, played 19 of his 20 seasons successful the NFL with Minnesota. The two-time Pro Bowl prime acceptable a league grounds for presumption players with 282 consecutive regular-season games played, a people held by Marshall until backmost Brett Favre broke it, coincidentally, with the Vikings successful 2010.

Marshall began his nonrecreational shot vocation successful the Canadian Football League, playing the 1959 play with the Saskatchewan Roughriders earlier moving to the NFL a twelvemonth later.

"No subordinate successful Vikings past lived the ideals of toughness, camaraderie and passionateness much than the all-time robust man," Vikings owners Mark Wilf and Zygi Wilf said successful a connection distributed by the team. "A cornerstone of the franchise from the beginning, Captain Jim's unmatched durability and quiescent enactment earned the respect of teammates and opponents passim his 20-year career. Jim led by example, and determination was nary finer illustration for others to follow. His interaction connected the Vikings was felt agelong aft helium near the field. Jim volition ever beryllium remembered arsenic a tremendous subordinate and person. Our hearts are with his wife, Susan, and each of Jim's loved ones."

Though sacks weren't officially tracked by the NFL until 1982, Pro Football Reference precocious completed a retroactive compilation of the superior pass-rushing statistic and credited Marshall with 130 1/2 sacks, which is tied for 22nd all-time. Two different Purple People Eaters fertile up of him: Alan Page (148 1/2) is eighth, and Carl Eller (133 1/2) is tied for 18th.

Marshall remains the NFL vocation record-holder, present tied with Jason Taylor, for hostile fumbles recovered with 29. One of those infamously came connected Oct. 25, 1964, astatine San Francisco when, aft the Vikings forced 49ers moving backmost Billy Kilmer to cough up the ball, Marshall scooped it up and scampered 66 yards into the extremity portion — the incorrect way.

After helium tossed the shot successful the aerial and turned toward the touchdown solemnisation with his teammates helium was expecting, Marshall stopped successful his tracks and enactment his hands connected his hips successful disbelief upon realizing he'd outgo his squad a safety. The Vikings went connected to triumph 27-22.

"It took a batch of guts for maine to spell backmost connected that field, due to the fact that I took shot precise earnestly and I had made the biggest mistake that you could astir apt make," Marshall erstwhile said successful an interrogation with NFL Films for a conception connected the NFL's worst plays.

Marshall took the gaffe successful stride, a graciousness made easier by his stature connected the squad and wrong the league. Long a favourite of hard-nosed caput manager Bud Grant, Marshall played done the 1979 season, his last crippled coming 2 weeks earlier his 42nd birthday.

"Maybe we've taken it for granted that Jim Marshall plays hurt," Grant said aft Marshall announced his retirement. "But durability is the astir important quality you have. You can't execute greatness without durability, and that is personified successful Jim Marshall. He has been hurt. But helium doesn't break. He bends. He heals. He has a precocious symptom threshold. Jim not lone plays hurt, helium plays arsenic good erstwhile he's wounded arsenic erstwhile helium isn't. That's what's important."

After Favre broke Marshall's grounds of 270 consecutive regular-season games started successful 2009, the Vikings invited Marshall to their signifier installation to talk to the players. He was asked past successful an interrogation league with reporters what helium thought astir a backmost overtaking his prized mark.

"He's the feline we were trying to hurt," Marshall said with a laugh. "Every antiaircraft lineman that helium plays against is trying to wounded him. That's a pugnacious mode to gain a living."

Marshall's determination and longevity took its carnal toll, similar galore of his peers from an epoch erstwhile subordinate information and wounded prevention were minimal. In an interrogation with the Minnesota Star Tribune successful 2017, Marshall recounted his agelong database of post-career surgeries connected his knees, ankles, hips, shoulders, back, neck, heart, eyes and ears.

"I didn't rather execute each the things I wanted to, but I definite tried," Marshall said. "I sacrificed. I gave it my champion shot."