Tarvaris Jackson, who played quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, died in a car accident on Sunday night, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. He was 36 years old. The car accident happened in Alabama, where he grew up. Recently, Jackson had been working as a quarterbacks coach at Tennessee State.
Jackson was drafted by the Vikings in the second round in 2006. He spent five seasons in Minnesota before signing with the Seahawks. In 2012, Jackson was traded to the Buffalo Bills, but he was cut from the team in 2013. He then signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks, and he spent three seasons there before moving on to be a college coach in 2018. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Alabama State, which is his alma mater. He was then hired to be the quarterbacks coach at Tennessee State in 2019. Jackson had plans of being a head coach in the NFL.
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“I do want to coach on a professional level,” Jackson said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2018. “Of course, you have dreams. … In the back of my head, I do want to be a head coach one day, but right now I want to be the best quarterback, grad assistant coach that I can be … I want to just focus as much as I can on learning the coaching side.”
Jackson began his college football career at Arkansas, but he saw limited action in his first two seasons due to an injury he suffered during his freshman year. He transferred to Alabama State in 2003, and he led the team to its second 10-win season in school history in 2004. In 2005, Jackson was named to the All-SWAC Second Team after throwing for 2,655 yards, 25 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
During his time in the NFL, Jackson played in 59 games with 34 starts. In 2007, Jackson started 12 games, and he compiled an 8-4 record while throwing for 1,911 yards, nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions for the Vikings. He best season was in 2011 when he was with the Seahawks, and he threw for 3,091 yards, 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 15 games with 14 starts. In his NFL career, Jackson threw for 7,263 yards, 39 touchdowns, 35 interceptions, and he had a 78.5 passer rating.
