Tarvaris Jackson is turning into a sad cautionary case

Tarvaris Jackson has no money and has requested a public defender to represent him in his assault case.

The news just keeps getting worse regarding former Minnesota Vikings second-round draft pick Tarvaris Jackson.

Last week, Jackson was arrested in Florida after allegedly pulling a gun on his wife and threatening to kill her. Adding insult to injury, Jackson’s wife reportedly taunted him during the incident by ripping on his skills as a quarterback.

You might think to yourself “at least Tarvaris has plenty of money to afford a good lawyer.” But that evidently is not the case.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Jackson claims he is flat broke and has requested a public defender.

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Jackson told the court that he has no income or savings and does not have a bank account or any investments. All he can claim as an asset is a $100,000 car.

Per Spotrac, Jackson earned roughly $12 million in his NFL career. And he doesn’t even have a bank account?

If ESPN ever decides to make a sequel to its fascinating 30 for 30 documentary Broke, detailing the plight of athletes who blow through all their money and in many cases wind up homeless and drug addicted, Jackson might be a perfect guy to interview.

According to stats cited in Broke, 78% of NFL players are out of money after three years. How does something like that happen? Players simply don’t understand how to take care of their dough. Many of them come from low-income backgrounds and have never learned the basics like how to open a checking account.

Give someone who’s never had anything millions of dollars and then expect them to be careful with the money. More often than not, that person will burn through the cash at an alarming rate and wind up in dire financial straits.

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It’s a sad reality that the NFL probably should do more to address. Tarvaris Jackson is now added to the roll-call of athletes who had everything handed to them and shockingly managed to squander it all.

As much as we joke about T-Jack and his less-than-scintillating performance as the Vikings’ starting quarterback, it’s pretty sad to see the guy end up like this. Hopefully T-Jack can get his life straight.