Amarri Nathaniel Jackson (born May 18, 1985) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL).

Early life

Jackson attended Riverview High School, in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

, where he earned four varsity letters in football, three in basketball and four in track. He was twice named an all-state basketball player while in high school.

College career

He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

from 2005 to 2007. In 2005, he led USF to a 45-14 win over Louisville with two rushing touchdowns on runs of 51 and 12 yards, a touchdown throw of 11 yards on a reverse, and two catches for 75 yards. He also had seven catches for 68 yards in a game against Rutgers in 2005. As a senior in 2007, Jackson started the first eight games of the season but missed the last four games due to an injury. He had six catches for 60 yards against Florida Atlantic and returned to the USF Bulls' lineup for the 2007

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

. Jackson was the subject of an oft-debated moment in USF's loss to Rutgers in 2007. With under a minute to go and the Bulls down 30-27 and facing a 4th and 22, quarterback Matt Grothe threw a pass to Jackson which he seemingly caught for a first down. The play was called back for offensive pass interference on Jackson, however, and the Bulls ended up losing, knocking them from #2 in the national rankings. The play, particularly whether or not the call on Jackson was correct, has since become a source of debate.

Professional career

He has been signed twice by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, first as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2008 and again as a training camp invitee in 2009. He was released by the Buccaneers both times during training camp, prior to the start of the preseason.

San Jose SaberCats

On April 25, 2013, Jackson was traded to the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

in exchange for Aaron Garcia and Devin Clark.

Tampa Bay Storm

On September 17, 2013, Jackson was traded by the SaberCats, along with Raymond McNeil, to the Storm for future considerations.

Cleveland Gladiators

On December 9, 2014, Jackson was assigned to the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ...

Los Angeles KISS

On December 9, 2015, Jackson was assigned to the

Los Angeles KISS The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Amarri 1985 births Living people American football wide receivers South Florida Bulls football players Tampa Bay Storm players Orlando Predators players San Jose SaberCats players Cleveland Gladiators players Los Angeles Kiss players Players of American football from Sarasota, Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers players