Robert Gene Jackson (born November 3, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

who played six seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He was drafted by 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in the seventh round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27 ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

. He played college football at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public insti ...

Early life

Jackson prepped at

West Haven High School West Haven High School is a secondary school located in West Haven, Connecticut, which educates students in grades 9–12. The mascot of West Haven is the Blue Devil. Administration and campus As of July 1, 2009, the school principal was ...

, West Haven, CT, where he was considered the No. 16 overall prospect in New England by SuperPrep. He earned All-Area and All-State honors at defensive end in 2003 when he Totaled 72 tackles, including 12 sacks. He won a state championship in 2002 in high school.

College career

Jackson attended junior college at

Fort Scott Community College Fort Scott Community College is a community college in Fort Scott, Kansas, United States. It has satellite buildings in other cities in Crawford County, including Pittsburg and Frontenac, along with sites in Paola and at the Hillsdale Learni ...

, located in

Fort Scott, Kansas Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,552. It is named for Gen. Winfield Scott. The city is located south of Kansas City on the Marmaton ...

. He had 35 tackles (28 solo), including nine for losses (six sacks) in eight games on defense and caught four receptions for 90 yards as a tight end and totaled 45 tackles (34 solo) in nine games as a freshman and led the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference in sacks during 2004 with 9. He played both defensive end and tight end as a sophomore. He was a two-time first-team All-

Jayhawk Conference Jayhawk may refer to: * Jayhawker, originally a term for United States Civil War guerrilla fighters, later applied generally to residents of Kansas *Jayhawk (mascot), the mascot of many schools and their sports teams, derived from the term Jayhawk ...

defensive selection. Jackson then went on to play collegiate football at

. In 2006, he started 12 of 13 games and earned honorable mention All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

after making 36 tackles (8.5 for losses and 4.5 sacks, two pass break-ups and one forced fumble. In 2007, Jackson started 11 of 12 games. He ended the season with 25 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and 2 sacks and one pass broken up.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Jackson measured in at a height of 6' 3⅜" and a weight of 257 pounds at his Pro Day. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.78 seconds and he measured a 28" vertical jump and completed 13 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press.

Washington Redskins

2008 season

Jackson was selected by the

in the seventh round (242nd overall) of the

on April 27, 2008. The pick represented the Redskins’ ninth pick of the 2008 Draft. He made his NFL debut against 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

in Week 4 of the 2008 season. Jackson finished his rookie season playing in only three games and recording only a single tackle.

2009 season

On September 5, 2009, Jackson was waived by the Redskins. He was signed to the Redskins' practice squad the next day. Jackson was promoted to the active roster on November 30, 2009 due to injury of

Jeremy Jarmon Jeremy Jarmon (born November 30, 1987) is a former American football defensive end of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the third round of the 2009 Supplemental draft. He played college football a ...

2010 season

On September 4, 2010, Jackson was released by the Redskins. The next day, he was signed to the Redskins' practice squad again. Originally being a

, Jackson was converted into an outside linebacker when the Redskins switched to a 3-4 defense in the

2010 NFL season The 2010 NFL season was the 91st regular season of the National Football League and the 45th of the Super Bowl era. The regular season began with the NFL Kickoff game on NBC on Thursday, September 9, at the Louisiana Superdome as the New ...

. Jackson was promoted to the active 53-man roster on December 20, 2010 due to Brian Orakpo suffering a groin injury. In the Week 16 of the against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, Jackson recorded his first career sack, which helped the Redskins beat the Jaguars in overtime.

2011 season

In the 2011 season, Jackson was made the backup right outside linebacker for

Brian Orakpo Brian Ndubisi Orakpo (born July 31, 1986) is a former American football outside linebacker who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Texas, was recognized as a unanimous All- ...

. In Week 17 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, Jackson subbed in for Orakpo in the second half of the game after the latter injured his shoulder after sacking

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

. At the end of the season, Jackson played all 16 games for the first time in his career.

2012 season

In Week 3 against 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

, Jackson had his first career start at the right outside linebacker after

was placed 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 th ...

after tearing his left pectoral muscle in Week 2 against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. In the game, he scored the Redskins' first touchdown after he intercepted

Andy Dalton Andrew Gregory Dalton (born October 29, 1987) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Red Rifle", Dalton previously played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, and ...

and landed in the endzone; it was his first career interception and touchdown. He recorded his second career interception on

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

in the Week 7 game 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. In the Week 14 game against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

, Jackson managed to strip the ball away from

Joe Flacco Joseph Vincent Flacco (born January 16, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Delaware after transferring from Pittsburgh and was drafted by the Balt ...

as he was sacking him and recovered the ball. This turnover would lead to the Redskins scoring a field goal helping to tie the game and eventually winning in overtime. The following week, he would record his third career interception in the win over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Two weeks later, he secured his fourth interception of the year against the

in a win that won the team the title of

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Dallas Cowboys (based in Arlin ...

Champion.

2013 season

Set to be a restricted free agent in the 2013 season, Jackson agreed to re-sign with the Redskins on a one-year deal on March 9, 2013. On March 20, it was announced that Jackson would be suspended for the first four games of the season due to violating the league's substance abuse policy.

2014 season

Jackson re-signed with the Redskins again on April 4, 2014. He was released on August 24.

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Rob 1985 births Living people People from West Haven, Connecticut Players of American football from New Haven County, Connecticut American football defensive ends Kansas State Wildcats football players Washington Redskins players African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people