Dale Hackbart Dale Leonard Hackbart ( born July 21 , 1938 in Madison , Wisconsin ) is a former American football defensive back who played twelve seasons in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers , Washington Redskins , Minnesota Vikings , St . Louis Cardinals , and Denver Broncos from 1960 to 1973 . He also played in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1964 and 1965 . Hackbert initially focused on baseball . He spent a season playing baseball for the Grand Forks Chiefs ; a Class C minor league team in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization . Vince Lombardi convinced Hackbart to drop baseball and concentrate on a career in the National Football League . In 1973 , Hackbart was involved in an on - field transgression that he eventually took to court . He asserted that a late hit by Cincinnati Bengals running back Boobie Clark was an intentional tort . He was with the Denver Broncos and was their starting safety in 1973 . In the first 1973 regular season game against the Cincinnati Bengals Hackbart ' s neck was fractured . “ It was just before halftime and the Bengals had the ball at around the 45 yardline going in . Boobie Clark came out of a split backfield and ran down the hashmarks . I was playing free safety so I dropped back to the center of the field . The ball went up in the air and I converged into the endzone . Billy Thompson , who was playing left corner for the Broncos , jumped in front of me and Boobie Clark and intercepted the pass . I tried to block Boobie and landed on the ground . When I came up on to one knee watching Thompson run the ball , Boobie came up from behind me and whacked me in the back of the head , with a right fore - arm and drove me into the ground , after the Play was finsihed . My left arm went numb ! At halftime in the locker room I couldn ’ t take off my helmet so I was packed in ice around my neck and helmet . " Hackbart was still in such severe pain after the game that he had X - rays taken , which revealed that the C4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 vertebrae on his neck were fractured . This injury ended his football career . In 1974 neurosurgeons told Hackbart that if he didn ’ t have surgery to repair the damage , he would lose use of his left arm , shoulder , and any muscles involved with the damaged vertebrae . The Broncos claimed they were not liable . Hackbart hired an attorney , Rodger Johnson of Johnson & Mahony , and brought a suit against the Bengals . Hackbart V . the Cincinnati Bengals became a precedent setting case . In the case the courts ruled that in the course of a professional football game an intentional infliction of an injury by one player upon another might constitute a tort . As a result of the lawsuit , the National Football League mandated that all stadiums had to be equipped with X - Ray machines . The head slap maneuver which injured Hackbart was banned . Later , rules against spearing with the helmet and helmet to helmet contact were created . Hackbart settled with the Bengals and the Broncos filed a Workman ’ s Compensation claim which paid for the surgery that was performed in 1976 . The case was eventually tried in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1979 and has become a key point of discussion in several first year law school tort classes . " Hackbart v . Cincinnati Bengals , Inc . " , 601 F . 2d 516 ( 10th Cir . 1979 ) . NFL Green Bay Packers 1961 50 Year Championship Reunion . Dale attended the 2011 Reunion at Lambeau Field , in Green Bay Wisconsin , October 2 , 2011 . http : / / www . packers . com / media - center / videos / Alumni - Spotlight - Jerry - Kramer / 78627c7d - 90ec - 425c - ab6e - a7a83ef71750 ? campaign = FB120422 http : / / www . fox11online . com / dpp / news / local / green _ bay / 1961 - Packers - champs - celebrate - 50 - years References . http : / / www . pro - football - reference . com / players / H / HackDa20 . htm