Former NFL quarterback Tarvaris Jackson dies in a car accident at age 36

Tarvaris Jackson (Dave Sizer, Wikimedia Commons)

Former National Football League quarterback Tarvaris Jackson of Montgomery, Alabama died in a car accident on Sunday at the age of 36. According to Alaa Elassar of CNN, Jackson’s vehicle left a road, hit a tree and then his vehicle overturned. The accident happened seven miles south of Montgomery.

Jackson was on the road and passed away even though the state of Alabama is in lockdown at the moment due to coronavirus. Jackson leaves behind his wife and three children.

Jackson played nine seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks from 2006 to 2015. He was with the Vikings from 2006 to 2010 and with the Seahawks from 2011 to 2015.

Jackson’s finest NFL season came in 2011. That year he completed 271 passes in 450 attempts for 3091 yards. He also had 14 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. On the ground, Jackson also had 40 rushes for 108 yards and one touchdown.

In his career, Jackson completed 640 passes in 1073 attempts for 7263 yards, 39 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. He also had 171 rushes for 636 yards and six touchdowns in his NFL career.

It should be noted that even though Jackson was the clear starting quarterback for the Seahawks in 2011, he was traded to the Buffalo Bills on August 26, 2012 for a conditional seventh round draft pick. The reason for the trade was because Seattle had intentions at the time to use Russell Wilson as their starting quarterback. Jackson meanwhile was only a backup in Buffalo for one season and did not see any playing time.

In 2013, Jackson returned to Seattle and was a backup to Wilson. He was part of the Seahawks roster that won the Super Bowl. On February 2, 2014, the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8.