The Tarvaris Jackson Era in Minnesota is about to end.
After starting 20 games throughout his up-and-down tenure of five years with the Vikings, Jackson is on his way to the Seattle Seahawks. Of course the deal can't be made official until free agency opens on Friday, but multiple reports have confirmed that Jackson has agreed to terms with Seattle.
The first reaction most Viking fans will have is "good riddance", which could very well be valid--in a way. But let's give credit to T-Jax where it's due--he had to weather a lot of storms here in Minnesota.
After getting a couple spot starts in his rookie year backing up Brad Johnson, he started 12 games (and all eight wins) for Minnesota in 2007. Despite Jackson's solid season, the Vikings brought in Gus Frerotte in 2008, and again Jackson was relegated to the bench. But Frerotte got hurt and Jackson helped the Vikes into the playoffs at the end of the year for a home game against the Eagles.
Any Viking fan will tell you that game didn't go so well for Tarvaris or the Vikings.
Either way, Jackson was poised to be the Minnesota starter in 2009, until a certain guy from Mississippi got picked up at the airport by Brad Childress. Again, Jackson was saddled with the backup role, where he remained for most of the past two seasons.
Surely Jackson couldn't have appreciated his playing time being jerked around throughout his career here. But you know what? He'd always say the right thing, take the high road, and be a true "team player". I may have never really warmed to the idea of Tarvaris Jackson as my favorite team's starting quarterback (I was never a big supporter of his), but I could always appreciate his humility and hard work.
Seattle was far and away Jackson's best possible destination, since he'll be very familiar with the offense. After all, he's not even switching offensive coordinators since Darrell Bevell made the switch to Seattle just a few months ago himself.
So best of luck, T-Jax. It was quite the ride, wasn't it?