Jim Tyrer, a legendary standout offensive tackle at Ohio State, played for the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs from 1961 to 1973 and spent one season with Washington before retiring after the 1974 season. During his amazing career, Tyrer received multiple awards for his excellent blocking skills, was named an All-Pro six times, and he was one of the tackles named to the historic All-AFL team. Jim Tyrer’s achievements without a doubt should’ve been in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but unfortunately, he fell short in votes.
One of the reasons for this outcome was because of Tyrer’s murder-suicide. During the early morning hours of September 15th, 1980, while his three kids were sound asleep, 41-year-old Tyrer shot his wife, 40-year-old Martha, before pointing the gun towards himself.
“We all knew after this happened that something had not been right,” said Tyrer’s youngest daughter, Stefanie. “This wasn’t the man that we knew. . . . You feel like there should have been something you could have done or something you should have recognized. Even though I was 12 or 13, there’s still a little bit of guilt. Why didn’t we pick up on something, or why didn’t we know more? . . . He probably didn’t understand what was happening to him, either.”
Brad Tyrer was the eldest among the three kids in the house at that time. Apparently, the evening before the incident, his dad came into his room to have a talk.
“My dad came in, probably around 9, and he basically had the conversation you have with your oldest son,” Tyrer recalled. “He had the conversation with me like he knew he was never going to see me again. At the time, it was just so out of context and I was kind of focused on something else. Looking back, I remember that conversation really well. He was saying: ‘You’ve been a good son, and I’m proud of you. You need to take care of your brothers and sisters.’ It was just out of the blue. I was like, ‘Okay, Dad.’ That was probably about a 20-minute talk, but I know he already knew that he was going to do something.”
Jim Tyrer also spent the afternoon before his murder-suicide with his youngest son, Jason Tyrer, at a football game. According to Jason, his dad’s mannerisms seemed unusual. Usually, Tyrer wasn’t very affectionate towards his sons, but during this game, his dad hugged him. Fans sitting near these two also noticed Jim Tyrer acting strangely as he spent most of the game just staring at the field.
Tina Tyrer Moore, the eldest of the four children, was in college during the devastating event. She was looking back at one of her dad’s old helmets and said that the padding wasn’t even half an inch thick. Tina did recall hearing her father complain about headaches and even went to a physician.
“…quite a bit of talk about ‘head pain’ and it seemed that pain had to do with helmets that were too small to fit my dad’s head,” Brad wrote in an email. “Because they couldn’t get an outer helmet shell large enough, I somewhat remember that they would remove material from the inside (padding and suspension) to allow for more room inside.”
It was never proven that Jim Tyrer had CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, however, he certainly had head trauma. His extreme concussions caused confusion, anger and depression which ultimately led to his horrific behavior.
However, his four children were not disappointed towards their father, but rather understanding.
“I don’t think any of us think we’ve led remarkable lives in terms of what we went through,” Brad said. “I think we all just have lived life, the lives our parents would have brought us up to live.”
Without question, Jim Tyrer was one of the greatest blockers of all time. However, even for legends, there is pain, guilt and regret. The game, his mind and his body were all responsible for his death and his wife’s.
Link to articles:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/01/jim-tyrer-chiefs-murder-suicide-wife-martha-cte.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/05/jim-tyrer-murder-suicide-legacy/
One of the reasons for this outcome was because of Tyrer’s murder-suicide. During the early morning hours of September 15th, 1980, while his three kids were sound asleep, 41-year-old Tyrer shot his wife, 40-year-old Martha, before pointing the gun towards himself.
“We all knew after this happened that something had not been right,” said Tyrer’s youngest daughter, Stefanie. “This wasn’t the man that we knew. . . . You feel like there should have been something you could have done or something you should have recognized. Even though I was 12 or 13, there’s still a little bit of guilt. Why didn’t we pick up on something, or why didn’t we know more? . . . He probably didn’t understand what was happening to him, either.”
Brad Tyrer was the eldest among the three kids in the house at that time. Apparently, the evening before the incident, his dad came into his room to have a talk.
“My dad came in, probably around 9, and he basically had the conversation you have with your oldest son,” Tyrer recalled. “He had the conversation with me like he knew he was never going to see me again. At the time, it was just so out of context and I was kind of focused on something else. Looking back, I remember that conversation really well. He was saying: ‘You’ve been a good son, and I’m proud of you. You need to take care of your brothers and sisters.’ It was just out of the blue. I was like, ‘Okay, Dad.’ That was probably about a 20-minute talk, but I know he already knew that he was going to do something.”
Jim Tyrer also spent the afternoon before his murder-suicide with his youngest son, Jason Tyrer, at a football game. According to Jason, his dad’s mannerisms seemed unusual. Usually, Tyrer wasn’t very affectionate towards his sons, but during this game, his dad hugged him. Fans sitting near these two also noticed Jim Tyrer acting strangely as he spent most of the game just staring at the field.
Tina Tyrer Moore, the eldest of the four children, was in college during the devastating event. She was looking back at one of her dad’s old helmets and said that the padding wasn’t even half an inch thick. Tina did recall hearing her father complain about headaches and even went to a physician.
“…quite a bit of talk about ‘head pain’ and it seemed that pain had to do with helmets that were too small to fit my dad’s head,” Brad wrote in an email. “Because they couldn’t get an outer helmet shell large enough, I somewhat remember that they would remove material from the inside (padding and suspension) to allow for more room inside.”
It was never proven that Jim Tyrer had CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, however, he certainly had head trauma. His extreme concussions caused confusion, anger and depression which ultimately led to his horrific behavior.
However, his four children were not disappointed towards their father, but rather understanding.
“I don’t think any of us think we’ve led remarkable lives in terms of what we went through,” Brad said. “I think we all just have lived life, the lives our parents would have brought us up to live.”
Without question, Jim Tyrer was one of the greatest blockers of all time. However, even for legends, there is pain, guilt and regret. The game, his mind and his body were all responsible for his death and his wife’s.
Link to articles:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/01/jim-tyrer-chiefs-murder-suicide-wife-martha-cte.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/05/jim-tyrer-murder-suicide-legacy/
