Jason Tucker

Jason Tucker (born June 24, 1976) is a former American and Canadian football slotback and the current receivers coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He spent three years in the National Football League before joining the Edmonton Eskimos in 2002. Tucker played for the Eskimos for seven seasons, winning two Grey Cup championships, before suffering a career-ending neck injury in 2008.

High school career

Tucker attended Robinson High School in Robinson, Texas, where he excelled in football, basketball and track and field, particularly long jumping, where he was a state finalist his junior and senior years. He also competed in the 400-m relay at the state finals his senior year. Tucker played on the freshman football team but made the varsity basketball and track team as a freshman were he made an immediate impact. As a high school player, he was not considered a vocal leader, but he did not have to be: his on-field heroics more than once breathed life into his teammates (notably when he scored two touchdowns in the span of 30 seconds against the 1993 Troy Trojans). He played both ways his sophomore, junior and senior years as a wide receiver and defensive back.

College career

Tucker played college football for Texas Christian University. During his sophomore season, he caught 31 passes for 433 yards. The following year, he became the team's second leading receiver with 39 catches, for 692 yards, and four touchdowns. Even better numbers were expected for his senior year, however he did not play after being suspended for a rules violation. At TCU, Tucker amassed 1,197 yards on 78 pass receptions, for an average of 15.3 yards, and a total of five touchdowns.

After a nice junior season in 1996, he was suspended for his senior season because of unspecifed off-field violations. Despite missing the entire 1997 college season, it was apparent Tucker continued to train on his own, to improve his football skills, as evidenced by his clocking a 4.48 second, 40 yard dash, and finishing in the top five in agility drills at the NFL Combine.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Tucker was drafted in the sixth round (167th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. His stay in Cincinnati was a short one. He played in the preseason opener against the New York Giants, catching one pass for six yards. After pulling a hamstring in training camp, and reaching an injury settlement with the Bengals, Tucker was placed on waivers on August 19, 1998.

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers added Tucker to their practice squad on October 28, and then waived him after six weeks without ever putting him on the active roster.

Dallas Cowboys

He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys before the start of the 1999 season and assigned to NFL Europe's Rhein Fire, where he had 26 receptions, for 454 yards, and three touchdowns.

After playing in Europe, he participated in the Cowboys training camp and was the last player to make the roster as the team's sixth wide receiver (one more than usual).

His first catch was a six-yarder, in week five against the Philadelphia Eagles, after Michael Irvin suffered his career-ending injury. By November, he had moved up to no. 3. After Ernie Mills pulled a muscle warming up for a December 5 game against the New England Patriots, Tucker became a starter. Mills was supposed to return for the December 21 game against New Orleans Saints, but instead, Tucker got his fourth straight start and had his best game, becoming part of Cowboys lore.

Playing at both wide receiver and kickoff returner in Week 16 against the Saints, he produced one of the standout performances in team history with 331 combined net yards, the most in franchise history. His 203 kickoff return yards also set a franchise record - he also had an apparent 97-yard return touchdown called back by penalty - and he added 128 receiving yards on seven catches, with a touchdown.

The next week against the New York Giants, the Cowboys clinched a playoff spot behind 122 receiving yards from Tucker, including a 90-yard touchdown, a 79-yard kickoff return and his 205 kickoff return yards (set a franchise record). His production earned him the NFC special teams player of the month for December 1999 .

He played in 30 games over the course of two seasons with the Cowboys, catching 38 passes for 580 yards and two touchdowns. The Cowboys released Tucker before the start of the 2001 season.

Edmonton Eskimos

By 2002, he had made the roster of the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos. In his first year as a Canadian Football League player, Tucker was the team's second-leading receiver with 51 catches for 911 yards. In 2003, Tucker was named the most valuable player of the 91st Grey Cup with a 132-yard performance in the championship game. In 2004, Tucker broke the 1,000 yards receiving mark for the first time, racking up 1,632 yards for the fourth-highest total in franchise history.

Tucker has won two Grey Cups, in 2003 and 2005, both with the Eskimos. He is a two-time CFL All-Star at wide receiver in 2004 and 2005.

On July 26, 2008, Tucker was involved in a helmet-to-helmet hit with Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ryan Glasper that fractured his C6-C7 vertebrae. Fortunately, his spinal cord was not damaged. However, the injury would ultimately end his career.^[1]

Coaching career

On January 28, 2009, Tucker announced his retirement as a football player, but also announced that he would join the Eskimos coaching staff as their receivers coach.^[2]

On January 3, 2012, it was announced that Tucker had joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders' coaching staff as their receivers coach.^[3]

Personal

Tucker is married, and has four daughters.

References