Eddie Paul Jackson Jr. (born December 19, 1980) is an American

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and former

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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

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 2004. 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 ...

for

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. He is a member of the

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

fraternity. Jackson was also a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and

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 ...

College career

In college, Jackson started 21 of 47 games at both the cornerback and

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

slots for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and totaled 174 tackles, 35 passes defensed, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. He also ran the high hurdles for the national champion Razorback track team. Jackson was also a College All-American in Track and Field where he won four national titles. He still holds the freshman record for the 110 high hurdles.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Jackson was signed as an

by the

in 2004.

Miami Dolphins

He spent the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

seasons with the

, and ended his last year on

injured reserve 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 ...

with a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

suffered in a December 25 contest. Due in part to his injury, Jackson was not tendered a contract by the Dolphins as a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in some sports leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the term ...

New England Patriots

On March 19, 2007, Jackson signed a two-year deal with the

. The contract contained no signing bonus, and base salaries of $1,510,000 in 2007 and $1,605,000 in 2008. He was released by the Patriots during the 2007 season.

Washington Redskins

Jackson was signed by the

during the 2008 offseason, but was released on June 5.

''MasterChef'' and Food Network

After retiring from football, Jackson became a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

, as well as owning a food truck, Caribbean Grill, in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Cooking had been a lifelong passion of his. Jackson first gained culinary notoriety as he competed on

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

of the

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...

cooking competition show ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' in 2013, finishing in eighth place. Jackson then competed on Season 11 of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

series ''

Food Network Star ''Food Network Star'' is a reality television series that aired from June 5, 2005, to August 5, 2018. It was produced by CBS EYEtoo Productions for seasons 1–8 and by Triage Entertainment for seasons 9-14. It aired on the Food Network in the ...

'' in 2015,Cash, Rana L
For Eddie Jackson, Food Network Star door swings open after NFL door closed
, ''Sporting News'', June 24, 2015, Retrieved 2015-06-24 and won the season, beating out eleven other contestants. As a reward for winning ''Food Network Star'', Jackson got his own Food Network cooking competition series, ''

BBQ Blitz ''BBQ Blitz'' is an American cooking reality competition that airs on Food Network. It is presented by chef and former American football player Eddie Jackson, who had most recently come to prominence as the winner of the eleventh season of the ...

'', in which contestants competed to create the best barbecue dish; Jackson served as the host. The show ran for six episodes in late 2015. Since 2016 he has hosted the Food Network cooking competition series '' Kids BBQ Championship''. For the first season in 2016 his co-host was model

Camila Alves Camila McConaughey ( Alves; born 28 January 1982) is a Brazilian-American model and designer. She is married to American actor Matthew McConaughey. Early life Camila Alves was born in Itambacuri, Minas Gerais, Brazil, about 250 miles east of t ...

, while for the 2nd season in 2017 his co-host was fellow ''Food Network Star'' (season 9) winner

Damaris Phillips Damaris Lennon Phillips (born December 8, 1980) is an American chef and television personality. In 2013 she won the ninth season of the Food Network television series ''Food Network Star''. She hosted the Food Network show ''Southern at Heart' ...

. He also infrequently served as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

on ''Clash of the Grandmas''. Jackson is the current host of ''Christmas Cookie Challenge'' on Food Network, as well as one of the judges. Jackson has also appeared on ''Chopped'' as a judge. In 2021, he was a team captain of '' BBQ Brawl'' competing against

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

and

Michael Symon Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as ''Iron Chef America'', ''Burgers, Brew and 'Que, Food Feuds'', and ''The Bes ...

. Jackson also served as a judge on seasons 11 and 12 of ''

Halloween Wars ''Halloween Wars'' is an American reality competition series from Super Delicious, the production company that also produces ''Cupcake Wars'' and '' Cake Wars''. It premiered on October 2, 2011, on Food Network and it runs over the course of fo ...

'' as well as

Guy's Grocery Games '' Guy's Grocery Games'' (often nicknamed ''Triple G'') is an American reality competition television series hosted by Guy Fieri and his son Hunter on Food Network. Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest ...

throughout its run on the network. He is currently the host of Outchef’d on

as well as the host of Christmas Cookie Challenge with

Ree Drummond Anne Marie "Ree" Drummond (née Smith, born January 6, 1969) is an American blogger, author, food writer, and television personality. Drummond became known for her blog, ''The Pioneer Woman'', which documented her life in rural Oklahoma. Capi ...

. He also serves as a judge on '' Supermarket Stakeout''.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Eddie 1980 births Living people African-American track and field athletes African-American television hosts American football cornerbacks American male chefs American male hurdlers American television chefs Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes Carolina Panthers players Chefs from Georgia (U.S. state) Food Network chefs Food Network Star winners Judges in American reality television series Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players Sportspeople from Americus, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Washington Redskins players MasterChef (American TV series) contestants