Jim Marshall, James Lawrence Marshall, played 20 NFL seasons as a defensive end with the Minnesota Vikings from 1937 to 2025. He established an NFL record with 29 fumble recoveries. He has also started 270 consecutive games and played 282 games, more than any defensive player in league history. The Vikings retired his jersey and inducted him into the Ring of Honor.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders signed Marshall from the Ohio State Buckeyes. In the 1960 NFL draft, the Browns drafted him in the fourth round. Marshall joined the Vikings after one season with the Browns. His 66-yard recovery of a recovered fumble he threw out of bounds after the Vikings approached their end zone gave the 49ers a safety in 1964.
Jim Marshall Obituary : His Biography and Legal Legacy
Born on December 30, 1937, in Wilsonville, Kentucky, Boyle County, Marshall’s early life began. He lived in Wilsonville during the summers, but his family moved to Columbus, Ohio, when he was five. His alma mater was Columbus East High. Besides being selected all-state, all-city, and high school all-American, he helped the football team go unbeaten for two seasons.
Jim Marshall University education
Marshall played football at Ohio State in 1957–58. He made the 1958 All-American tackle team. While on the Ohio State track team in 1958, he set school records in the discus and shot put.
The 1957 Ohio State Buckeyes went 9-1, including 7-0 in Big Ten play. They were ranked #1 by UPI and the Football Writers Association of America and second by the AP national poll, behind Auburn. NFL player Marshall played alongside Bill Jobko, Jim Houston, and Dick LeBeau. Marshall played in the 1958 Rose Bowl, where Ohio beat Oregon 10-7.
AP ranked the 1958 Buckeyes sixth at season’s end. Ohio State’s 1958 game against Purdue saw Marshall score on a 25-yard interception return and a 22-yard blocked punt return. Jim Houston deflected Marshall’s interception and blocked his recovered punt.
Marshall joined Ohio State’s Hall of Fame in 1978.
Jim Marshall’s Field expertise
Before his senior year in 1959, Marshall left school to play football with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL due to financial issues. The Roughriders received Marshall’s CFL name in April 1959 from Ottawa. Despite playing offense, Marshall’s natural position was defensive line. Bud Grant, who would eventually coach the Vikings, coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Marshall caught a touchdown pass in one of their games.
In return for Bob Ptacek, who had played against Marshall at Michigan, he was sent to the Cleveland Browns after one season in an NFL-CFL transaction. Paul Brown acquired Marshall’s rights following the Browns’ fourth-round draft in 1960.
Jim Marshall The Super Bowl
Jim Marshall played football with the Browns in 1960. An induced coma saved him after encephalitis during military training before the 1961 season. He was quite ill. He and defensive lineman Paul Dickson were part of a six-player deal that delivered two 1962 NFL draft picks to the nascent Minnesota Vikings. He established a Vikings record with 282 straight games played from 1961 to 1979. Now punter Jeff Feagles has shattered that milestone. Vikings quarterback Brett Favre has surpassed Marshall’s 270 consecutive starts.
Marshall played in the 1968 and 1969 Pro Bowls. He has 30 career fumble recoveries, an NFL record. Last of Minnesota’s initial expansion team from 1961 to retire, he was one of the Vikings’ “Purple People Eaters” with Marshall (DE), Alan Page (DT), Gary Larsen (DT), and Carl Eller. Marshall ranks second in Vikings history with 127 sacks, behind Eller. Before retiring in 1979, Marshall played every Vikings game. He recorded two sacks in his final home game with the Vikings after Bud Grant handed him the first game ball.
Marshall was one of eleven 1970s Vikings who played in all four Super Bowls.
Jim Marshall Legacy
Jim Marshall made the Pro Bowl twice and the All-Pro second team three times. After his Ring of Honor induction, the Vikings retired his No. 70 jersey. Marshall joined the Professional Football Researchers Association in 2004 as a second-class HOVG. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted Marshall in 2004 despite his lack of election.
After Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jerry Kramer, who was inducted in 2018, NFL Network selected Marshall as the second-best non-Hall of Fame player in 2008 on their NFL Top 10. Although a semifinalist, Marshall did not reach the final twelve in the 2023 or 2024 senior nominations.
Jim Marshall The wrong path
Jim Marshall recovers after a fumble (1) and sprints the opposite way (2). After seeing what happened, 49ers defensive lineman Bruce Bosley (#77) congratulates Marshall on the play (3) and safety. (4) Marshall is known for running against the San Francisco 49ers on October 25, 1964, while playing for Minnesota.
Marshall ran 66 yards toward his team’s end zone after recovering an offensive turnover. Marshall completed the run for the Vikings and tossed the ball in celebration, but it went out of bounds, and the 49ers recovered. Marshall was unaware of what he had done until Fran Tarkenton, who was standing near the sideline, informed him after 49ers lineman Bruce Bosley commended him. Marshall says Vikings head coach Norm Van Brocklin told him, “Well, Jim, you’ve done the most interesting thing in this game today.” The Vikings won 27-22 despite the mistake.
Roy Riegels, famous for his 1929 Rose Bowl wrong-way run, emailed Marshall, “Welcome to the club.” The 2019 NFL Greatest Plays list ranks Marshall’s mistake 54th.
Jim Marshall Current NFL rosters
Defensive player’s most seasons: 20
Defending champion with 20 career seasons:
The longest defensive player streak (including playoffs) is 289 games.
Most straight-game defensive player: 282
Most consecutive regular-season starts defensive player: 270
Most regular-season games with same team: 270
With 29, Jason Taylor’s squad has recovered the most opponent fumbles.
The most fumbles recovered are by defensive ends (30).
Fumble recoveries lost 66 yards maximum.
Previous NFL records
Jeff Feagles played 282 games straight in 2005, breaking the record.
In 2009, Brett Favre started 270 consecutive games to break this record.
In my life, Marshall lived in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He married Susan again after his first marriage to Anita, with whom he had two children. Marshall missed the September 2009 game when quarterback Brett Favre was ready to break his record for consecutive starts since it was his wedding anniversary. Marshall personally congratulated Favre at the Vikings practice grounds a few days later.
After football, Marshall worked in real estate, insurance, and finance. He also worked with homeless and unemployed youth groups.
Marshall, 87, died in Minneapolis on June 3, 2025, following a hospital stay.
Honoring Jim Marshall
In moments like these, we feel the loss deeply. Jim Marshall had a profound impact on many lives.
You are welcome to comment below if you have any memories or ideas to share. Let’s come together to remember and celebrate his life.
A true Vikings legend. And a good man.www.startribune.com/jim-marshall…
— Governor Tim Walz (@governorwalz.mn.gov) 2025-06-04T01:10:41.742Z
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