The (Brief) Return Of Tanard Jackson
June 30th, 2011
Tanard Jackson, right, walks to practice with Aqib Talib Wednesday at IMG Academies in Bradenton.
Yesterday was an interesting day at Josh Freeman’s minicamp, the second of three such two-a-days.
First, there were far less members of the pen and mic club attending than the previous day. Joe wonders if that is because the Rays played Wednesday afternoon?
Seeing NFL chieftain Roger Goodell being tooled around in an IMG golf cart and then seeing IMG security flip out when reporters tried to approach him was funny.
But the biggest item yesterday was the return of troubled Bucs safety Tanard Jackson. Since he was suspended last year for violating the NFL’s substance abuse police, a second-time offender (that is known), he was put on the shelf for a year. Couldn’t practices with his teammates. Couldn’t go to One Buc Palace.
So if for only a couple of days, Jackson was back with the Bucs, details video star Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune.
Wednesday marked the first time Jackson had seen or spoken with his teammates since his suspension.
“This is a major part of my life and I’m grateful to be back out here with the team and that is the most important thing for me right now, which is to get back out here with these guys,” Jackson said.
Tampa Bay’s minicamp wraps up on Thursday and it could be the last time Jackson practices with his teammates for several months. If the lockout ends before his reinstatement date, Jackson will not be allowed to have any contact with his friends.
Now whether Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik chooses to keep Jackson is another story. He’s potentially eligible to return to the Bucs Sept. 22, provided the season starts on time. Then, he has the rest of the season under contract with the Bucs before he is a free agent.
June 30th, 2011 at 10:06 am
expendable
June 30th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Great player…but you can’t trust him…He said the same thing last time
How crazy to give up a job and his so called friends because he won’t
give up the Reefer…it’s a shame
June 30th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Keep him, stud at Safety.
June 30th, 2011 at 10:15 am
keep him it’s a small risk
June 30th, 2011 at 10:29 am
yea keep him, great talent
what have you got to lose? one roster spot? oh no!
June 30th, 2011 at 10:36 am
He is a great talent, but so is Cody Grimm. I’m all for 2nd chances but patience gets thin when you start hurting my team repeatedly. I felt the same way towards Stevens. I do not put Talib into the same category. I can’t blame the guy for protecting his own blood, no matter how he chose to do it. Its an unfortunate circumstance and I hope neither Texas or Darth Goodell crash down on him.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:51 am
They have him for the rest of the year so he IS coming back and can spend the year proving himself on the filed again.
HOWEVER, No matter how well he plays, he is not going to get a big, long term offer from the Bucs… too risky. He might get a 4 year deal with alot of escalators and behavior clauses
For those saying “cut him”, that makes no sense. they own his rights this year and for cheap. Plus, it isn’t like he murdered someone, he is (was?) a pot head who was stupid enough to get caught.
Hopefully he realizes now that to have an NFL career, shutdown the weed for a decade! It is not that hard to do, especially for millions.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Yeah I’m with you Dave, I don’t understand all these people that hate his guts for smoking pot. It was stupid as hell considering all he had to lose, but it’s not like he was hurting someone else. Ray Lewis killed a guy and he’s still in the league, I don’t hear you guys calling for his head…
June 30th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
I totally agree Michiganbucsfan, all he did was smoke a little weed. One day soon, weed will be legal, and he will be considered a casualty of Prohibition. Rape O Roethlisberger, and Ray “the murderer” Lewis, now that’s some bad stuff!
I was a creature of the 70’s, and once smoked weed (unlike Clinton, I DID inhale). I don’t anymore because I don’t care for it. Plus, in my roof cleaning business, I need ALL my wits about me.
But I see nothing wrong with it, anymore then alcohol. I see Tanard Jackson as one of the unfortunate ones who got caught. Yes, he let his team down, but I would bet money 1/2 the NFL Players smoke weed, or more. Tanard just got caught. I hope Tampa keeps him, and Talib too.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
@Joe: “Now whether Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik chooses to keep Jackson is another story.”
There is no question: Jackson will absolutely be back with the Bucs in 2011. The question is how playing time he will be given to potentially reclaim his starting spot.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Whenever I hear Tanard Jackson’s name I remember the hit he had on Dallas Clark. That’s the Tanard I miss and hope returns to this organization.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Ok, here’s a good question. We keep 3 safeties. Amed Black, Sean Jones , and – Cody Grimm or Tanard? We keep Tanard, Grimm signs with Indy, first week of the season- Tanard is dirty again, for the forth time as a buc. Suspended permanently. Feeling good?
For every high risk, low character guy you keep, you unemploy another player. There are only so many spots. Tanard has let us down before. Donee risk losing Corey lynch over Tanard? How about future starter Larry Asante? He may well be our starter for the next ten years. Do we give up on his development for Tanard? Exactly whose future donyou wanna wreck, for a pothead who has lied and let us down before? Could you tell a hard working young man, who has been training all summer, that you are cutting him to keep Tanard. There are consequences for being an apologist. You can keep forgiving these guy, but they will continue to affect the team in numerous bad ways.
It’s better to keep guys who want to win, make the team a priority, and aren’t going to let you down when you count on them. We have a team full of those guys now. Just a few still need to be purged!
June 30th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
@joe . how do u feel about t jack coming back u told me u woulnt post anything about him untill his suspension was up..
June 30th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Future starter Larry Asante? Based off what? A pick that fell in his hands against Brees? Come on man.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
I’ll take tjax and let Sean jones walk any day of the week…..
June 30th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Sean Jones wasn’t a star. He was consistent, and actually one of the better tacklers last year. I expect him to start opposite either TJax or Grimm.
Tim, thats a scary situation you’re describing. If we keep Tanard its almost like we’ll have to limit another position so we can have an extra safety. Somethings gotta give. I wish they’d extend the roster.
That hit on Dallas Clark is the stuff legends are made of.
June 30th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
I think Black is more likely to start than jones, maybe not week one but sometime this season. Too much splash play ability to leave him on the bench. From what I have read(sorry no source it was months ago) the top 5 draft pics are expected to start this season. Stocker in dual TE sets, not over Winslow..,..
June 30th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Captain tim most teams keep 4 or 5 safeties and tanard does not count as a roster spot until he is reinstated so your cody grimm being cut before week one logic borders on lunacy. We own Tanards rights for cheap and he is very young and talented. if he just passes piss tests, there is no reason he couldnt be our safety of the future. Cutting him would be retarded
June 30th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Captain Stagger, the NFL is a different game. Splash plays are always welcome but we need someone to cover their assignment each play and be a consistent tackler in our secondary. That man is Sean Jones. Black might be a future starter, but if he starts any games this year then it will probably be because of injuries.
I don’t recall anyone saying the top 5 picks were expected to start. Significant playing time, maybe. Starting? Not all 5. We made too much progress last year for that to happen this year.
June 30th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
We’ll keep 4 safeties this year, if we keep Jackson at all. The Bucs have no choice. Tanard has made far to many mistakes and there is no way they release Grimm for him.
But I can see them keeping 4 safties in order to see if Tanard has set the weed aside.
As far as right or wrong…crime is crime. As far as I’m concerned, Tanards actions are no better or worse than Talib smaking a cabbie. There are consequences to ones actions, and unlike the shooting situation with Talib, the Bucs and hte NFL have proof that Jackson broke the law…and that is exactly what he did.
Frankly, I don’t care whether someone thinks pot should be legal, whether they think it’s a big deal or whatever. He commited a crime…multiple times. He is a repeat offender.
Clearly, his first suspension did not teach him a lesson. He is now the Bucs version of Ricky Williams.
Now, aside from that, I’m all for second chances. But they should make it clear to him (the NFL should), if he does it again, he’s out of the league. Period. Because he’ll never kick the habit if this suspension didn’t do the job.
June 30th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
On Talib, with his trial not being until March 12, 2012, it looks like we’ll have him this year, unless the league suspends him before a trial.
I’m not sure which I would rather be done. If they suspend him earlier, it would get a good part of it out of the way and we’d get him back sooner.
On the other hand, if they suspend him early and he ends up with all charges dropped, then they will have suspended without good reason, right?
June 30th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
It doesn’t matter if we keep 46 damn safeties. The point is the same. And we as a team made the wrong choice before. We cut everyone. Kept Tanard, he fired up da Chronic- and got suspended. As Gifted as Mark Dominick gas proven to be a signing Rookie Free agents- would you still cut a talented young player, to resign Tanard- who has pissed in yer eye twice. Next dirty test- he’s done forever. You gonna bet a roster spot – and a young guys chance- on him AGAIN?
I know Jarrett will say yes. I have come to realize that Jarrett admires Talib and Tanard because they are – to him- anti social heroes. Jarrett is 15, and thinks life is a game of “Grand Theft Auto”. For those of you not in playstation world- you really gonna trust Tanard again? Really?
June 30th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Does any1 know if talib or tanard talk to goodell? And maybe told there side of there stories.. That would be huge! anyways just a thought…
July 1st, 2011 at 12:10 am
Nate:
Only player that spoke with Goodell was GMC, who hugged him.
July 1st, 2011 at 1:00 am
Luckily we dont have to make a decision on resigning Tjax this year and I would def cut Asante, Jones or Lynch to see if Tjax can get it together this season. Also if he does pan out this season he will come at a much reduced price for his talents.
July 1st, 2011 at 7:19 am
Tim your arguement was retarded, now you are calling me 15. Thats rich.Let me tell you how this will work so you can wrap your tiny brain around it. WE keep black, jones, asante, grimm, and possibly lynch. Tanard does not count as roster spot until he is reinstated, at that time if noone is injured we may cut lynch. Never will cutting cody grimm be an option. Im not 15, i just think we should keep good players, what a novel idea. Go talk to your magic sources tim maybe they can help you, because once again you could not be more wrong
July 1st, 2011 at 7:20 am
Ash and Jarrett- Albert Einstein defined insanity as” continuing to repeat the same action, and expecting a different result”. Help is available- seek it out. History only repeats it’s self if no one learns from it
I know where Jarrett stands on this. He is enamored with the anti social types, and thinks life is a game of” Grand Theft Auto”. I suspect he’s 13. The rest of you should realize that Tanard is an idiot, about to lose a multimillion dollar job, because he can’t quit smoking pot for three months. The players all know you get tested in week two of Camp. Results come back after camp. To fail a test you know about is just stupid.
July 1st, 2011 at 8:14 am
This is indeed a problem, but because there is so much talent abound, it is a good problem for a coach to have. Two things may mitigate the issue – (1) expanded rosters for 2011 – this is likely to be approved because of the lockout and it is an owner proposition – one the players are not likely to resist. (2) Once the lockout is over, Tanard can have no further contact with the team – can’t get a playbook, can’t practice, can’t play until Sept. 22nd. It will be a tall order to walk-on after a year out of football and start. If the Bucs thought he could start, they would have to hold a slot open for him when the final roster is chosen (not likely) or they would have to cut a player after game 4 who could have gotten on with another team before the season started (not fair). This problem may solve itself!