Latest sports news: Ex-NFL QB Tarvaris Jackson dies at 36; NBA HORSE competition falls short of expectations

Former Vikings and Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson died in a single-vehicle car accident last night in Montgomery, Ala. Jackson was killed after his 2012 Chevrolet Camaro left the roadway and struck a tree, causing it to overturn.

Jackson’s football story was the definition of perseverance. He played his first college football season at Arkansas. He bet on himself and transferred to Alabama State, where he became a second-round pick to the Vikings in 2006. He played nine NFL seasons and finished with a 17-17 career record as a starter. Brett Favre and Russell Wilson are among the quarterbacks Jackson backed up in his career.

Jackson’s three most memorable seasons are 2007, 2008 and 2011. The 2007 season, Jackson led the Vikings to an 8-4 record in 12 starts. The team went 0-4 when Jackson didn’t play, which led to them missing the playoffs. Jackson’s elusiveness made him a tough quarterback to bring down and he was the perfect complement to the Vikings’ two-headed rushing attack that featured Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. The Vikings led the league in rushing that season.

Jackson started the 2008 season but was replaced by Gus Frerotte after two games. Frerotte suffered a back injury in Week 13 that led to Jackson returning as a starter and winning three of the last four regular-season games to make the playoffs.

Jackson went 7-7 in 2011 as a starter for Seattle before backing up Wilson the next three seasons. He won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks in 2014. He was charged with the role of Peyton Manning on the scout team at Seahawks’ practices before the Super Bowl.

Jackson’s connection with wide receiver Sidney Rice started in Minnesota, but their most memorable play occurred with the Seahawks on a 52-yard touchdown pass by Jackson.

Jackson, 36, was a quarterbacks coach at Tennessee State University at the time of his passing.

We’ll give the NBA an E for effort, but the league’s HORSE competition wasn’t fun to watch.

The camera quality in the videos was blurry for certain players and the videos also had a lag. It was like watching on a Samsung flip phone from 2007. Even NBA players didn’t seem to enjoy the action.

This was always going to be a tough event to pull off. The eight players also had different basketball goals and played on different platforms. The biggest example of this was Mike Conley shooting inside a gym against Tamika Catchings. He used that to his advantage against 2020 Basketball Hall of Famer and won easily, while she was shooting in Indianapolis, where I’m sure it wasn’t too warm.

On the positive side, the player commentary was fun, including Chauncey Billups telling Trae Young to “respect your elders” as he finished him off. The other first-round matchup results were Zach LaVine defeating Paul Pierce and Allie Quigley beating Chris Paul. To Paul’s credit, he did sink the best shot of the tournament.

The semifinal matchups will be televised Thursday at 9 p.m. on ESPN. Billups will face off against Conley, and LaVine will go against Allie Quigley.