Background and career
Tarvaris D'Andre Jackson (April 21, 1983 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Jackson played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Alabama State Hornets. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. A reserve quarterback for much of his time with the Vikings, Jackson was starting quarterback for the 2007 season and part of the 2008 season, after which Jackson started the Vikings' Wild Card playoff game. In 2011, Jackson signed with the Seattle Seahawks and was starting quarterback for the 2011 season. Jackson was then traded to the Buffalo Bills before the 2012 season, but never played a game. Jackson returned to the Seahawks in 2013. He was the backup quarterback for Russell Wilson during their Super Bowl XLVIII win.
Jackson was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, and graduated from Sidney Lanier High School of Montgomery in 2001.
Jackson then enrolled at the University of Arkansas and played three games for the Razorbacks as a freshman but suffered a season-ending injury. Consequently, Jackson received a medical redshirt for the season. Jackson finished 2001 with 3 of 9 passes completed for 53 yards and one interception and rushed 14 yards on seven carries. In 2002, Jackson played 8 games. He completed 14 of 39 passes for 143 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions and rushed –16 yards in 14 carries.
In 2003, after trailing on the depth chart to future first round draft pick Matt Jones, Jackson transferred to Alabama State University and led the Hornets to an 8–5 record, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Eastern Division title, and berth in the SWAC Championship Game. He completed 160 of 316 passes for 2,342 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions and rushed 444 yards on 91 carries including five touchdowns. As a junior in 2004, Jackson won SWAC Championship MVP in Alabama State's second 10-win season in school history. With 11 starts in 12 games, Jackson passed for 2,556 yards, 20 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He had 67 carries for 215 yards and three touchdowns. In his senior season in 2005, Jackson was named team captain and was a second-team All-SWAC selection. He threw for 2,655 yards, 25 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He rushed for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 95 carries.
Vikings scouts and personnel had reportedly been watching him closely in secret over his senior season, particularly liking his performance in the East-West Shrine Game. They were also impressed by his workout at the scouting combine (among the top 5 quarterbacks in ball speed and the 40-yard dash). Several NFL teams, including the Vikings, had arranged secret workouts with him too. Jackson was selected with the last pick in the second round (64th overall) of the 2006 NFL draft, while he was projected to go much later, in the sixth or seventh round. The Vikings traded two 3rd round picks to get the 2nd round pick with which they drafted Jackson, fearing he might get picked sooner than anticipated. Jackson's early selection caused some surprise, as he was the 5th quarterback taken and the 1st Division I-AA player selected (the previous I-AA quarterback drafted was Spergon Wynn in 2000). He was also the first quarterback from Alabama State to be drafted into the NFL since Ricky Jones in 1992. Even Jackson was surprised by the pick, saying, "I was more focused on [getting drafted in] the third round and even that was stretching it". Most pre-draft publications did not even have him listed as one of the top 10 eligible quarterbacks, while he was the 5th selected. On July 26, 2006, Jackson signed a four-year deal with Minnesota, including a $1 million signing bonus. Vikings coach Brad Childress was quoted days before the draft as saying he was interested in finding a "developmental guy", a "diamond in the rough" quarterback of the future, raw talent he could teach a system. The day after the draft, Childress was quoted by the St. Paul Pioneer Press as saying: "I think you judge quarterbacks a little bit differently...When you see what you want at the quarterback position, you need to go get it. And that's exactly what I see with Tarvaris Jackson is a guy that's a piece of clay, that has all the skills in terms of, No. 1, what's he look like throwing the football?...He's got a great throwing motion; he's athletic. He has all those things that we're looking for, and he's wired right. That's important for a quarterback. I think he's a flatline guy. I think he's a sponge. You're talking about a guy that never had a coach there as a quarterback coach. So what can he do with coaching?"
Jackson's 2006 pre-season passer rating was 106.1, 15th in the league out of 110 quarterbacks who performed. Only one quarterback from his draft class (Jay Cutler) did better. He also showed great scrambling skills averaging 11.3 yards in rushing (the only Viking other than Brad Johnson to average more than 3.3 yards in rushing). ESPN analyst Mike Tirico referred to Jackson as a right-handed Michael Vick. His pre-season performance was enough to surpass second and third-string quarterbacks Mike McMahon and J. T. O'Sullivan on the depth chart. After the pre-season, McMahon and O'Sullivan were cut from the team and Brooks Bollinger was brought in, whom Jackson then competed against for the number two spot. On September 25, 2006, Jackson had minor knee surgery to repair the meniscus in his knee. He returned to limited practice after two weeks, and then came back to play his first NFL game with the Vikings in week 13 against the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter after Johnson was benched for throwing four interceptions and backup quarterback Brooks Bollinger was injured. Jackson completed three of his four passes before fumbling the ball to Chicago and the Bears then ran the clock out. Following this game, when Jackson was asked if he was ready to take over as starter, he said: "Not really...We still have a chance to make the playoffs, so we're still trying to do that. So it's obvious that Brad is still our quarterback so we can stay on that." In Week 15, Johnson started the game but was benched in the fourth quarter when the Vikings had been underperforming the entire game losing by a score of 26–7 at the time Jackson went in late in the third quarter against the New York Jets. Although Johnson had not thrown an interception that game and had a respectable passer rating of 94.2 in the game, the Minnesota fans jeered Johnson throughout the game and chanted "We want Jackson!" at numerous points because Johnson had only thrown nine touchdowns all season (in 14 games) and had a career worst 71.9 passer rating throughout the season. Jackson received a standing ovation as he trotted out onto the field. A landmark in Jackson's career happened that game when Jackson completed his first touchdown pass to Mewelde Moore. Jackson threw 177 yards, one touchdown, and ran three times for 20 yards while the Jets protected their large lead. He also threw an interception in the red zone. Jackson was named the starting quarterback for Minnesota towards the end of his rookie season. Jackson's first game was a week 16 night game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Game conditions were very poor. A steady rain fell throughout the evening and the kickoff temperature was only 36 degrees Fahrenheit. The Vikings lost by a score of 9–7 with the only Vikings score coming from an interception for a touchdown by defensive back Fred Smoot. The offense set a franchise low record of only three first downs the whole game, did not get close enough to the end zone to even attempt a field goal, and only had 27 passing yards gained against the NFL's 19th ranked defense (ranked 26th against the pass). Jackson had a passer rating of 36.5, had a 50% completion rate (10–20 for 50 yards), one interception, and one fumble. Packers quarterback Brett Favre only managed a slightly better 52% completion rate (26–50) and threw two interceptions. He threw for 285 yards with no touchdowns.
