When Tarvaris Jackson was still an obscure college passer at Alabama State, he was very known to have a very hot temper, and he never tried to hide it.

The Seattle Seahawks’ anointed successor to Matt Hasselbeck, their longtime quarterback, is a changed man. He is a lot mellower now, and really nothing compared to before. This is really a very good thing since there was a time during the past three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings when Jackson received a dismissive treatment from ex-coach Brad Childress. If this kind of situation happened before then it would be expected that Jackson would definitely give Childress a Christian Bale-sized fit of temper.

And since he is a changed man, he did what a professional and matured player is supposed to do. He remained calm and managed to go out in his own terms.

And just recently, Jackson, a free agent, signed to a 2-year, $8-million contract with the Hawks. And three days after the signing, Seattle Seahawks’ coach Pete Carroll made a surprise announcement by naming Tarvaris Jackson as his unequivocal starter.

The Seahawks’ look at Jackson’s presence to the team is a stab at stability. And although Hasselbeck already spent ten years with the Seattle Seahawks, as the starter, and not to mention him performing brilliantly during the Hawks’ amazing playoff upset of the New Orleans Saints at the start of the year, he is, undeniably, 35 years old and he had a lot of injuries, these two things are the major reasons why Carroll and Schneider are less attracted to keep him, especially now that they are preparing or the second season.

There are two more reasons why both the coach and the general manager were convinced and have decided to prefer Jackson over Hasselbeck, who actually already signed with the Tennessee Titans, are the presence of Darrell Bevell, offensive coordinator, whom Carroll employed after cutting ties with Jeremy Bates at the start of the year, and, of course, another reason is the lockout-induced lack of offseason program.

Jackson’s combination of mobility and arm strength made a lot of impressions. And after starting the final two games of his rookie season, Tarvaris Jackson became the Viking’s starter in 2007, throwing only nine touchdowns and twelve interceptions as Minnesota got 8-8.

This was the time that Childress began treating Jackson like a girlfriend he wants to dump at a school dance. But now as the opener of the Seahawk’s preseason against the San Diego Chargers, Tarvaris Jackson will show everybody that he is ready to be the quarterback everybody expected him to be.