Tarvaris Jackson showed some potential in a brief time at Arkansas but not enough to keep Matt Jones on the bench, then went to the NFL and had a substantial journeyman career.
Jackson, 36, was killed in a single-car crash in Alabama on Sunday night just south of Montgomery at around 8:50 p.m. when his car left the road, hit a tree and flipped, according to law enforcement officials.
He was drafted in the second round after leaving the Hogs for SWAC member Alabama State. Jackson played for nine seasons in the NFL with Minnesota and Seattle. Jackson spent the 2012 season with the Buffalo Bills, but did not play.
Jackson started 34 games over the course of his career, including 14 for the Seahawks in 2011, and threw for more than 7,200 yards with 39 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. The Montgomery native also won a Super Bowl ring as Russell Wilson’s backup in 2014.
“TJack… you will be missed. Praying for your family…Love you man,” Wilson wrote on Twitter on Monday morning.
Jackson was released by the Seahawks in 2016. He was arrested in Florida later that year for allegedly pulling a gun on his wife, though the charges were later dropped.
Jackson then decided to retire from the NFL, and move to coaching. He spent the 2018 season as a quality control assistant at his alma mater before joining Tennessee State as its quarterbacks coach in 2019.
