Drug Test Dooms Tanard Jackson Again
July 9th, 2014
Joe’s really not sure whether to feel sorry for former Bucs safety Tanard Jackson or just consider him a foolish, foolish man.
Regardless, Jackson has been suspended for the fourth time by the NFL.
That pesky substance abuse policy did him in again, via ProFootballTalk.com.
During the glory day of the Bucs defense, very rarely did a rookie start and they sure didn’t get much playing time. Jackson shattered that Monte Kiffin mold. As a fourth-round pick in 2007, Jackson started the entire season for the No. 1 ranked pass defense, and the No. 2 ranked defense overall. Jiminy Christmas! Joe wishes Mark Barron could turn in a season like Jackson had in ’07.
But then the suspensions came, first in 2009, then Jackson was ousted by the drug policy in 2010 and rookie Cody Grimm was inserted into the Bucs’ starting lineup. Jackson made a heroic off-the-couch comeback in 2011 and was re-signed by Mark Dominik. But then Jackson was booted by the New Schiano Order and landed with Raheem Morris and Bruce Allen in Washington.
He never saw a regular season game after the NFL cracked down on him again, and then again today following a recent reinstatement.
One would think this is the end for Jackson. Joe hopes he managed to save a few bucks.
July 9th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Wow! I feel sorry for him. He obviously has an issue much deeper and powerful than football.
July 9th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
Such a waste of talent. Hope the guy gets the help he needs before he becomes just another statistic.
July 9th, 2014 at 5:30 pm
What a mental midget ….he had his whole life after his NFL career to smoke as much Gangi-weed as he wanted. In fact the best stuff he could afford. Now the dumb@ss is going to have to smoke the brown shiite like me. lol
July 9th, 2014 at 5:33 pm
One of the few things Shiano did right.
July 9th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
So this is his 4th suspension?
Isn’t at some point he going to be banned from the league?
July 9th, 2014 at 5:36 pm
Hes been in the league long enough and has had all of the resources needed to get help. Sorry I feel sorry for nobody that continues to make the same mistake over and over again. If he just had bad luck and it was random bs happening in his life that would be a different story. This guy has chosen drugs over his priorities countless time. I feel no sympathy for him. He made it to the nfl. He obviously dedicated himself to working hard to get there. If a man cant look in the mirror and see what the problem is then he is blind
July 9th, 2014 at 5:50 pm
I remember when several complained when schiano cut this piece of crap.
July 9th, 2014 at 5:52 pm
Agreed. His addiction is at a level that he needs serious help.
July 9th, 2014 at 5:58 pm
Bill, it’s pot dude, not addictive, I live in Colorado where it is legal and I do it from time to time. He’s just a moron because he didn’t stop when he knows he will be tested as a multiple offender. If I new I was to be tested regularly for my job I would quit it’s not that hard, now my tobacco addiction that is a tough one to stop
July 9th, 2014 at 6:21 pm
Yes! It is one thing if you don’t have the cash or the resources to get help. The NFL bends over backwards for these guys to try to help them. If they don’t, Joe’s not shedding any tears.
These rookie symposiums where they bring in all the cats to tell rookies what not to do and set them up with financial advisors, et al? Pretty much a waste of cash and time.
July 9th, 2014 at 6:40 pm
You know if he doesn’t feel like he has a problem with drugs then why would he feel like he needs to get help? Everyone else can see it as him having an addiction but clearly he doesn’t or he wouldn’t continue to use… Yes it makes it bad because he’s a NFL player who have loads of resources at their disposal if they feel they need it… Whether it was mandatory for him to go or not doesn’t mean it will work for him… I hope one day he does realize his problem and seeks out help and wants to change.. As having family members with addiction problems I would never wish that upon anyone… So for the idiots calling him a piece of crap or glad he was cut.. Please punch yourself in the face… A few times..
July 9th, 2014 at 6:42 pm
Whata bonehead… It’s hard to feel sorry for this guy…I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood in S.FL…it was nothing to see crack addicts, heroin addicts, etc on a daily bases but this weed we’re talking about, WeeD!….as Chris Carter would say C’mon Man!…don’t get me wrong, I am an occasional toker myself, but there’s no way on Gods green Earth that I’d choose weed over millions of dollars…The shelf life of an NFL player is so short why not just stay clean, play ball, make your money, retire at 35, and smoke all the Mary Jane your heart desires…what a waste…smh…
July 9th, 2014 at 6:49 pm
Sad story, but he’s got no one to blame but himself.
July 9th, 2014 at 7:00 pm
You can’t fix stupid.
July 9th, 2014 at 7:10 pm
So in 5 years when Marijuanna is legal everywhere in the US.. Think he’ll make a come back?
July 9th, 2014 at 7:26 pm
As the great Forrest Gump said:
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!
Quit feeling sorry for this ass-clown. He’s a moronic idiot!
July 9th, 2014 at 7:39 pm
How many people get to make millions doing what they love and be nationally known for it. This is way being needing help, he chose not to get any so he could sit on the couch for a year and get high, he had no plans he just came back because football is what he knows but you have to make a choice sooner or later especially if a wife and kids are around, that alone should have woke him up but oh well you’ll forever be known in NFL circles for that one thing
July 9th, 2014 at 7:44 pm
“Hope the guy gets the help he needs before he becomes just another statistic.”
Marijuana has never caused ONE death…….EVER. It’s not like he’s doing cocaine.
July 9th, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Mitch no he will be washed up by then. I cant wait for it to become legalized. But until ot is and until companies dont prohibit the use of it….bills and priorities come first. But alcohol is legal and if he showed up drunk all the time he would be a drunk not a druggie. Either way his fault….onto the next thread
July 9th, 2014 at 8:58 pm
I guess being Raheem Morris cousin has never helped him. I guess it is back to the warehouse job for him.
July 9th, 2014 at 9:10 pm
@Patrick
What proof do you have that its just Marijuana? He clearly has an addiction and weed is not addicting to the point that its going to cost you your job unless your an absolute moron. Which he could very well be… but I have no clue what he is addicted to. But even if it is weed… It cost him his lively hood and for that he needs help.
July 9th, 2014 at 9:11 pm
It’s not going to matter if they legalize it until the NFL legalizes it. Those two almost definitely won’t go hand and hand. The NFL can (and probably will) keep it against the rules long after it is legalized, and they are within their right to do so. As silly as it is, that’s the reality of the situation.
July 9th, 2014 at 9:49 pm
Here’s the thing. He got help several times. They don’t lift an indefinite suspension unless you’ve done and met all requirements for substance abuse rehab. Obviously he did an excellent job pulling arms and looking interested in cleaning up. Obviously he tried beating the system and he again failed.
July 9th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Sounds like the guy could use some therapy.
July 9th, 2014 at 9:55 pm
@Patrick. “Marijuana has never caused ONE death…….EVER.” You obviously didn’t see Willie Nelson on Bill Maher’s show. When Bill said that there had never been a single death from marijuana, Willie said that there had been one when a friend of his had a bale of it fall on him.
July 9th, 2014 at 10:03 pm
Called “collectively bargained.”
Aside from the fact it is still against federal laws to possess weed, there are other reasons the NFL and NFLPA don’t want to allow it in the NFL.
First is for sponsors. Corporations, unless it is completely legal, don’t want to sponsor a league full of stoners. Kinda hard to justify to your employees they can be fired for pot but it’s all good to bankroll an organization full of stoners in lieu of better wages.
Not to mention already crazy insurance rates (for the NFL) would jump. In an era where insurance companies can drop you for smoking legal weed (tobacco), imagine what would happen if the NFL allowed employees to smoke weed, which is more potent than tobacco.
July 9th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
Just like the federal government, the NFL is still decades away from allowing pot.
Some people staunchly believe it’s a gateway drug.
July 9th, 2014 at 10:12 pm
It wasn’t just Tanard, Schiano also had Freeman, Williams, Blount and Price to deal with too.
July 9th, 2014 at 10:33 pm
Complete difference between physical addiction and psychological addiction. Unlike nicotine, which creates a physical addiction (as well as psychological), weed can be psychologically addictive. Some people just do it so much their mind tells them they “need” it. That is often times the hardest of the addictions to overcome. The “want to do it” part. Either way, he was an idiot to start whatever was his drug of choice, and more of an idiot to not get proper help over the 5 or so years when the opportunity was there.
July 9th, 2014 at 10:40 pm
seems possible the Bucs had a drug issue on the team
July 9th, 2014 at 10:45 pm
Its very sad. What a waste. As has been said, if Tanard ‘owned’ an NFL franchise, “…there would obviously be cries that he needed help.” Sad, bc he obviously does.
July 9th, 2014 at 11:08 pm
Enjoy unemployed life TJ. Yes he needs help but he obviously doesn’t think he does so he’ll continue to be a screw-up! Maybe destroying his career and having to hang out on the corner will make him realize he has demons and he’ll finally get help.
July 9th, 2014 at 11:51 pm
If you are the kind of person who needs to do harder drugs than the herb, then you didn’t need the herb to get you there. These folks who keep saying its a gateway drug are wrong. You can stop at pot if you want to. You can walk away from pot if you want to. Not wanting to stop is not the same as can’t stop. People want to smoke marijuana and they can easily walk away if they have to with no lasting side effects. They may say they want it back but thats because they want it back not because they need it. If you do drugs like cocaine, crystal, crack etc.. frequently it’s a whole different ballgame, but again if you’re going to do those type of drugs you had the propensity to do them anyway without blaming it on a natural growing herb that’s effective at taking the edge off, and a heck of a lot safer than a lot of your pharmaceutical drugs. Here take ten valium and call me in the morning, or here go smoke this little fatty, listen to some Marley, and call me in the morning. I say tell them to keep their pills and give me organic.
July 10th, 2014 at 5:11 am
I would say you had a good point Joe if you applied that same logic to alcohol which the NFL doesn’t seem to mind profiting on.
I also love the logic that if they make it legal all the sudden people will go to work high but not go to work drunk. Just like alcohol is not always abused like spring break or football games so too with weed.
Get used to it medical weed in FL next.
July 10th, 2014 at 7:04 am
The NFL should just get rid of drug tests. Nobody cares about that stuff anymore. It will all be legal soon anyway.
July 10th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Tanard never had a season that was better than Barrons 2 seasons, just sayin’