Marshall, Jim
(born: 1937)Jim Marshall was born in Danville, KY and grew up in Ohio, where he was an outstanding football player at East High School in Columbus. He played college ball at Ohio State University.
Marshall left college his senior year to play in the Canadian Football League. He was later taken in the fourth round by the Cleveland Browns in the 1960 NFL draft, then traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1961.
Marshall, a defensive end, holds the NFL record for playing in the most consecutive games: From 1961-1979 he never missed a game and had more playing time than any other football player up to that time: he played in all 302 (282 regular season) games of his career, including in four Super Bowls and other playoff games; he also held the record for most consecutive starts (270 regular season games).
Marshall is often remembered for retrieving a fumble and running 66 yards in the wrong direction, October 25, 1964 against the San Francisco 49ers. In spite of the wrong-way incident, Marshall held the record for recovering the most fumbles by opponents - 29.
For more see "Vikings beat 49ers despite a long run to the wrong goal," New York Times, 10/26/1964, p. 43; "Jim Marshall in Viking farewell," New York Times, 12/16/1979, p. S5; Rob Vanstone, "Marshall's remarkable pro football journey began in Saskatchewan," 8/7/2020, at the Regina LeaderPost website; and Jim Marshall Stats at the Pro-Football-Reference website; and Lindsey Young, "Lunchbreak: Jim Marshall (Still) Belongs in the Hall of Fame," 2/19/2021, at The Vikings website.