Jim Marshall was Hall of Fame talent unfairly defined by a mistake

On the list of all-time great Vikings players, Marshall should always be near the top of the list.

He was one of the leading players on their famed "Purple People Eaters" defense of the 1970s and was a constant disruptive force throughout his 20-year career (19 with the Vikings). 

Marshall's career was so impressive that it's surprising he has not yet been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Just a few of his notable accomplishments include: 

• Ranked 22nd on the NFL's all-time sacks list (even though that was an unofficial stat for much of his career).
• Played in an astonishing 270 consecutive games and appeared in four Super Bowls with the Vikings. After joining the Minnesota franchise at the start of the 1961 season, he never missed a single game for the team in 19 years, serving as the team captain for 14 of them. 
• Places 32nd in Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value (tied with Ronnie Lott and Steve Young). This stat attempts to measure "a player's seasonal value on a team, based on their performance and contribution to the team's overall drive performance."

Of the top-50 players in PFR's Approximate Value, 37 of them are already in the Hall of Fame. Of the 13 players in that group who are not in, five of them are active in the NFL, and five more are retired but not yet eligible for induction. 

The only eligible players out of that group that are not currently inducted are Marshall, former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson. 

Along with all of those numbers, his 30 career fumble recoveries are the second-most among defensive players in NFL history, trailing only Rod Woodson. 

Those 30 fumble recoveries also happen to include the one player that has unfairly defined Marshall's legacy — A 1964 play against the San Francisco 49ers when he recovered a fumble and ran 66 yards the wrong direction, and then threw the football away after thinking he had scored a touchdown. The play resulted in a safety and two points for the 49ers.

For fans who did not follow the Vikings, that was the play for which Marshall was most commonly known. 

Not the 130 sacks.

Not the 270 consecutive games or the unmatched durability.

Not the fact that his overall career stacks up with the NFL's all-time greats. 

Not even the fact that the Vikings still won that game against the 49ers, due in large part to a fumble later in the game that Marshall himself had forced.

His wrong-way run is a part of his story, and it is one of the more unforgettable and noteworthy plays in NFL history. It should be talked about. 

However, it shouldn't be discussed merely as a random blooper or mental gaffe. 

It should be talked about in the context of how professional sports are, largely, games of mistakes.

It should be taught that those mistakes do not define players, but rather how they respond to and learn from them.

In Marshall's case, he bounced back by helping to win the game and putting together a Hall of Fame-worthy career, regardless of whether the Hall of Fame voting committee agrees with that assessment or not.