Tanard Jackson plans to seek treatment for his substance abuse issues.
Troubled Buccaneers safety Tanard Jackson plans to enter rehab in the near future in order to work towards an eventual return to the NFL. This information comes per Steve Wyche of NFL.com via a Buccaneers official. Jackson was suspended on September 22nd for his second violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He was also suspended last season for four games.
Jackson went to Syracuse University and was All-Big East as a senior. When he’s acting sensibly and actually on the field he’s extremely talented and makes the Buccaneers secondary a solid unit. Obviously though, despite his talent, his reliability is a little bit of a concern. Raheem Morris had voiced publicly that the Buccaneers planned to stick with Jackson before Sunday’s game against the Steelers.
“[I'm] Obviously disappointed,” said Morris. “We hope that he can come back a stronger man and help us in 12 months.”
I’m sure after Charlie Batch threw deep on rookie Cody Grimm the Buccaneers feelings towards sticking with Tanard Jackson were cemented a little bit more. The Buccaneers could conceivably have a hole at safety for the rest of the season if one of the younger players doesn’t step in and fill the void left by Jackson’s absence.
And while I admire Morris for sticking by a troubled young man, I hope the Bucs will put a contingency plan into place. Because while everyone loves to see a comeback story and I truly do hope Tanard can recover and get back to playing football again, historically these things usually don’t work out. It may all just be what the Bucs are publicly saying and they have plans to replace Jackson should Grimm or Corey Lynch not turn into quality safeties. But if they don’t, maybe think about drafting a safety or signing one. At the very least Jackson can’t return until September 22, 2011. And who knows if you can trust him.
Original Story:
http://thepewterplank.com/2010/09/29/...
