Jackson Jeffcoat (born December 26, 1990) 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 spent his entire

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) career as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

. Jeffcoat won the 107th and

108th Grey Cup The 108th Grey Cup decided the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2021 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was cancelled and the start of the 2021 season was delayed, pushing the game to December 12, 2021. The ...

when the Blue Bombers defeated the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

to conclude the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and 2021 seasons. 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 the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

. Jeffcoat was signed by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

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 2014, and also played 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

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 ...

and the

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 ...

Early life

Born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, while his father,

Jim Jeffcoat James Wilson Jeffcoat Jr. (born April 1, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. He played college football for the Arizon ...

, played 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 ...

, Jeffcoat attended

Plano West Senior High School Plano West Senior High School (commonly known as West, Plano West, or PWSH) is a public high school in Plano, Texas serving high school juniors and seniors. Plano West is named after its geographic location within West Plano. The school is part ...

, where he was a two-time first-team all-state defensive end. Over his final three seasons, he recorded 259 tackles, 25.5 sacks, 56 TFL, 42 pressures, four PBU, three forced fumbles, two interceptions, two blocked kicks, and a touchdown. He was named a High School All-American by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'', and

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. He was selected to play in the 2010

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

. Regarded as a five-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Jeffcoat was listed as the No. 1 strong-side, defensive end in the class of 2010.

College career

Jeffcoat attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

from 2010 to 2013. Jeffcoat was named a 2010 Freshman All-American by ''

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''. As a senior in 2013, he was a consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and won the

Ted Hendricks Award The Ted Hendricks Award is given annually to college football's top defensive end. The award is named after Ted Hendricks, a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is presented by his own foundation. I ...

in recognition of his contributions on the field.

Professional career

2014 NFL Combine

Seattle Seahawks

Jeffcoat was originally predicted to be drafted somewhere in the middle rounds of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. However, neither he nor any other member of the Longhorns team was selected that year, the first time since

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

that no Longhorns were drafted. Jeffcoat signed with the

as an

. The Seahawks released him on August 25, 2014. Jackson Jeffcoat

Washington Redskins

On September 2, 2014, Jeffcoat 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 ...

of the

. He was promoted to the active roster on October 7, but was waived three days later. The Redskins re-signed him to their practice squad again on November 13. He was promoted again to the active roster on December 16. In the Week 16 win against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

that removed them from playoff contention, Jeffcoat recorded his first career sack on quarterback

Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

. The following week, he had his first career start with Trent Murphy 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 ...

and recorded his first career interception, which came off

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Eastern Illinois Pan ...

, in the Week 17 loss to the

. On November 7, 2015, he was placed on the team's

. He was waived by the team on April 14, 2016.

Cleveland Browns

Jeffcoat was claimed off waivers by the

on April 15, 2016. On August 1, 2016, Jeffcoat was waived by the Browns.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Jeffcoat was signed by the

(CFL) on February 21, 2017. In 16 games played, Jeffcoat contributed 36 tackles, 7 sacks, 3 tackles on special teams, one interception, and a forced fumble. In Winnipeg's one postseason game, Jeffcoat had 5 tackles and a sack, but the Blue Bombers were defeated by Edmonton. 2018 saw Jeffcoat miss several games with injury, but he still put up a respectable 21 tackles, 5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. Jeffcoat also had a monster postseason, with four sacks in two games played, but a loss to Calgary in the Western Division final denied Jeffcoat and the Blue Bombers a trip to the

106th Grey Cup The 106th Grey Cup (branded as the 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw for sponsorship reasons) was the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game for the 2018 season. It was played on November 25, 2018, between the Ottawa Redblacks and the C ...

After fulfilling his CFL rookie contract, Jeffcoat was eligible to become a free agent on February 12, 2019. Jeffcoat was pursued by interested NFL teams, and was brought in for a workout by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. However, Jeffcoat was signed to a two-year contract extension with the Blue Bombers on January 21, 2019. Jeffcoat's 2019 season was almost identical to his 2018; he missed time with injury, played in the same number of games, had the same number of sacks and forced fumbles. In the 2019 Grey Cup, Jeffcoat had 4 tackles, 2 sacks and forced a fumble, which he recovered as the Blue Bombers went on to win 33-12. Jeffcoat signed a one-year contract extension with the Blue Bombers on January 8, 2021. He played in 12 regular season games for the Bombers during the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and set a career high with nine quarterback sacks and four forced fumbles, to go along with 26 defensive tackles. Jeffcoat was named a CFL All-Star for the first time in his career, as he helped the Bombers win consecutive

Grey Cups The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

. Jeffcoat missed two games in the 2022 season with a hip injury. On January 19, 2023, Jeffcoat and the Bombers agreed to a one-year contract extension. Jeffcoat suffered a lower-body injury in the Bombers' Week 1 win, the injury caused him to miss some action at the start of the season. However, Jeffcoat recovered and played in the most games in a single season since his rookie year, and produced his second highest numbers of sacks and forced fumbles on the year. After not hearing much from the Bombers prior to free agency, Jeffcoat retired on February 9.

Statistics

CFL

References

External links

Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffcoat, Jackson 1990 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends American football linebackers Canadian football defensive linemen Cleveland Browns players Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Dallas Players of Canadian football from Dallas Players of American football from Plano, Texas Texas Longhorns football players Washington Redskins players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players