Darrell Lamont Jackson (born December 6, 1978) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

for nine seasons 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) during the 2000s. Jackson 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 ...

for the Florida Gators, and thereafter, he played in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the NFL.

Early life

Jackson was born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

in 1978,Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Darrell Jackson
Retrieved July 1, 2010. one of eight brothers and sisters in his family.GatorZone.com, Football History, 1999 Roster

. Retrieved March 24, 2011. He attended Tampa Catholic High School in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved July 1, 2010. where he was a standout wide receiver for the Tampa Catholic Crusaders high school football team.Joey Knight,
Tampa Bay's All-Century Team: No. 82 Darrell Jackson
," ''The Tampa Tribune'' (October 5, 1999). Retrieved April 17, 2012. As a senior, Jackson set then-national high school records for career receiving yardage (4,594) and average yards per catch (24.05), and caught a total of 191 passes in three seasons for the Crusaders. FHSAA announces 33-member All-Century football team
," Florida High School Association (December 12, 2007). Retrieved May 26, 2011. He had eighty-nine receptions for 2,087 yards and twenty-eight

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 as a junior, and sixty-seven receptions as a senior. Basketball, not football, however, was Jackson's first love. As the sophomore point guard of a basketball team that included only eight players, he led the Crusaders to the 3A crown and was named state tournament most valuable player. As a senior, he led his team to the state tournament one more time in 1997, where it lost in the championship game. ''The Tampa Tribune'' recognized Jackson as one of the 100 greatest Tampa Bay area athletes of the last century in 1999. In 2007, eleven years after he graduated from Tampa Catholic, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recognized Jackson as one of the thirty-three all-time greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years by naming him to its " All-Century Team."

College career

Jackson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a wide receiver for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1997 to

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 89, 96, 124, 127, 143–145, 148, 150, 154, 182 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011. He saw limited action as a freshman and sophomore, but he was the Gators' leading receiver in Spurrier's "fun 'n' gun" offense as a junior in 1999. During the 1999 season, he had sixty-seven receptions for a total of 1,156 yards (an average of 17.3 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns, and had a memorable three-touchdown outing against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Following his junior year, he was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection and a third-team All-American. Jackson decided to forgo his final year of college eligibility, and entered the

NFL draft 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 ...

after his junior season; he finished his college career with a total of 1,501 receiving yards.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks selected Jackson in the third round (eightieth pick overall) in the 2000 NFL draft, and he played for the Seahawks for seven seasons from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Darrell Jackson
Retrieved May 31, 2010. During the season, Jackson set a Seahawks franchise record with eighty-seven receptions (broken by Bobby Engram in 2007). On December 18, 2005, he made his first appearance for the Seahawks after returning from an injury that he received playing the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

; in this appearance, he helped carry the Seahawks to victory with a touchdown reception. In Super Bowl XL Jackson tied the record for most receptions made in the first quarter of a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

with five, tying former

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

wide receiver Andre Reed. Despite his brilliant performance, Seattle lost to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

21–10. He was denied a touchdown catch in the first quarter, due to a controversial offensive

pass interference In American and Canadian football, pass interference (PI) is a foul that occurs when a player interferes with an eligible receiver's ability to make a fair attempt to catch a forward pass. Pass interference may include tripping, pushing, pulli ...

penalty called by back judge Bob Waggoner. In Seahawks franchise history he is fifth in receiving yards, fourth in receiving touchdowns and sixth in receptions.

San Francisco 49ers

On April 29, 2007, Jackson was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a fourth-round draft pick in the 2007 NFL draft. On March 14, 2008, after a disappointing 2007 season, the

placed Jackson on waivers, making him a free agent.

Denver Broncos

On April 16, 2008, Jackson signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Denver Broncos.Mike Klis,
It's official: Broncos sign WR Jackson
" ''Denver Post'' (April 16, 2008). Retrieved July 1, 2010. He filled in when called upon and started for the suspended Brandon Marshall in week 1, and the injured Eddie Royal in week 6. Despite being third on the depth chart, he managed twelve receptions for 190 yards (a 16.5 yard average). In his nine-season NFL career, Jackson played in 123 regular season games, started 107 of them, and had 499 receptions for 7,132 yards and fifty-one touchdowns.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Darrell 1978 births Living people American football wide receivers Denver Broncos players Florida Gators football players Players of American football from Dayton, Ohio San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Tampa Catholic High School alumni