Darius Jackson (born December 1, 1993) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

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 ...

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

, and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. 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 ...

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

. Jackson was selected by the

in the sixth round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

Early life

Jackson attended Sparta High School in

Sparta, Illinois Sparta is a city in Randolph County, Illinois, Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,095 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was the principal filming location for the 1967 film ''In the Heat of the ...

. He was a two-way

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

as a senior, registering almost 1,100 rushing yards, while playing

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. He received All-conference honors on both sides of the ball and was an Academic All-state selection. He also practiced

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

College career

He accepted a football scholarship from

. As a sophomore, he appeared in seven games (one start) and had 201 rushing yards. The next year, he appeared in all 12 games (4 starts), posting 295 rushing yards. As a senior, he became a full-time starter and had a break out year, rushing for 1,078 yards on 208 carries (5.2 avg.), 14 rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, 21 receptions for 201 yards, two receiving touchdowns and 16 total touchdowns (school record).

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

Jackson was selected by the

in the sixth round (216th overall) of the

, in part because of the athletic traits he displayed during his

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. He made the Cowboys 53-man roster, in order to protect his rights from being claimed by another team and was declared inactive in 14 games. On December 13, he was waived to make room for running back

Darren McFadden Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arkansas ...

, who was being activated from the non football injury list.

Cleveland Browns

On December 14,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Jackson was claimed off waivers by the

. He was declared inactive for the remaining three games. On June 1,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Jackson was

waived/injured The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

with an undisclosed knee injury that forced him to miss

organized team activities In the National Football League (NFL), training camp refers to the time before the season commences. During this time, teams sometimes congregate at an outside location, usually a university, to conduct training camp for at least the first few w ...

. He cleared waivers and was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

on June 2. On May 3,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Jackson was waived by the Browns.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

On May 30,

, Jackson signed with the Cowboys. On September 1, 2018, he was waived by the Cowboys and was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day.

Green Bay Packers

On September 3, 2018, Jackson was signed by the

from the Cowboys' practice squad, as the team was looking for a third running back, with Aaron Jones suspended for the first two games, and Devante Mays being released with an injury settlement. He was waived on October 6, 2018.

Dallas Cowboys (third stint)

On October 9, 2018, Jackson was signed to the Cowboys practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 22, 2018. Overall, in the 2018 season, he had six carries for 16 yards, all of which came in the regular season finale against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. On August 30, 2019, Jackson was released by the Cowboys, then re-signed to the practice squad on September 11. He was released on September 16.

Indianapolis Colts (first stint)

On September 20, 2019, Jackson was signed to the

practice squad, but was released four days later.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On October 9, 2019, Jackson was signed to the

practice squad. He was released on October 15.

Indianapolis Colts (second stint)

On November 12, 2019, Jackson was signed to the Colts practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts on December 30, 2019. On August 2, 2020, Jackson was waived by the Colts. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 16, 2020. He was released on November 3, and re-signed to the practice squad three days later. He was released on November 7 and re-signed three days later to the practice squad. He was released on December 1, 2020.

Las Vegas Raiders

On July 29, 2021, Jackson signed with the

. He was waived on August 2.

Houston Texans

On August 11, 2021, Jackson signed with the

. He was waived on August 23. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 30, 2021. He was released on January 5, 2022.

References

External links

Eastern Michigan Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Darius 1993 births Living people People from Sparta, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football running backs Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Dallas Cowboys players Cleveland Browns players Green Bay Packers players Indianapolis Colts players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Las Vegas Raiders players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen