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‘It’s Not the Ending He Wanted’

TAMPA, Fla. — Vincent Jackson had a growing family, a flush bank account from his sterling 12-year N.F.L. playing career and a thriving portfolio of business investments to keep him busy. Intelligent, active, philanthropic and eager to please, he was popular in the Tampa Bay area, where he and his family moved in 2012 when he joined the Buccaneers.

Jackson, it seemed, was an N.F.L. role model, until he was found dead and alone in a hotel room at age 38 in February, just days after his former team won the Super Bowl. Until then, Jackson had hidden his alcoholism and declining cognitive health from the public.