Former Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress had nothing but praise for former quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who tragically lost his life on Sunday night in a single-car automobile crash. Per Mark Craig of the (Minnesota) Star Tribune, Childress said:

“Most of all, he was a great young man — great person … I think to be able to spend 10 years in the National Football League when the average is whatever it is kind of speaks to him being a great teammate, a good player … It’s just a reminder that we’re not here for long.”

Childress was the Vikings' head coach when the team drafted Jackson with the final pick of the second round in the 2008 draft. Even though he never became the quarterback the Vikings were hoping for, he was always a great teammate, and no one had a bad word to say about him. Matt Birk was Jackson's center from 2006-08 with the Vikings and said that his passing was tragic.

“That's tragic. It puts things in perspective … You put as much into your career as you can, then you have this picture of when your career is over you can kind of be able to relax and live the good life. That’s sad.”

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Birk added that Jackson had a great sense of humor and was someone who was great to have around in the locker room. Jackson played in 54 games during his NFL career and went 17-17 as a starter, spending five seasons with Minnesota and another four with the Seattle Seahawks.

Most recently, Jackson was the quarterbacks coach at Tennessee State.