Tyus Jackson (born November 22, 1983) is a former

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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and coach. He lasted coached the

Iowa Rampage The Iowa Rampage were a professional arena football team based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL). They were the second official Iowa-based team to play in the ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

Early life

Jackson attended Woodlawn High School where he was a four-year starter on the football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams. He played

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

and was named All-Metro and Super All-Metro during his prep career. He was also the starting point guard on the basketball team and helped lead his squad to a 6A State Championship.

College career

Northeast Mississippi

He was ranked as a two-star prospect according to

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after two seasons at

Northeast Mississippi Community College Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) is a public community college in Booneville, Mississippi. History The college was founded in 1948 as Northeast Mississippi Junior College'','' and became known primarily as an agricultural school a ...

He lettered for two years at

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 ...

, playing for coach Bobby Hall. Selected to the Mississippi North All-State second team and was voted the defensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

in the Mississippi Junior College All-Star Game in 2002.

Memphis

In 2003, Jackson signed his letter of intent to play for

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, where he

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for the Tigers and began his Memphis career in 2004 when he had 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, and one sack in 12 games, including a fumble recovery in the

2004 GMAC Bowl The 2004 GMAC Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was the 7th edition. It was played in December 2004, and featured the Memphis Tigers, and the Bowling Green Falcons. Gam ...

where Memphis lost to

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, 52–35. In 2005, Jackson helped the Tigers to a 6–5 season and their second bowl win in three seasons when they beat the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

in the 2005 Motor City Bowl. Jackson played in all 12 games for the Tigers in 2005 making 13 total tackles and one sack.

Professional career

af2

In 2007, Jackson played for the expansion

Fort Wayne Fusion The Fort Wayne Fusion was a 2007 af2 (Arena Football League's minor league) expansion team in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. They played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which w ...

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

, where he was coached by Eddie Brown. In 2008, Jackson joined with the af2's

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999, when the Quad Cities was ...

and earned Second Team All-af2 honors. The following year, he earned First Team All-af2 after leading the Steamwheelers with 12 quarterback hurries, 10 tackles for a loss, seven sacks and two safeties. He also added 41 total tackles, three forced fumbles and was named the Defensive Player of the Game in Week 1.

AFL

His performance from 2008–2009 in the af2 led to a contract in the

(AFL) with the

Milwaukee Iron Milwaukee is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest with a population of 577 ...

for the 2010 season. In 2011, he signed to play with the

Kansas City Command The Kansas City Command (formerly the Kansas City Brigade) were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was founded before the 2006 season. Former Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Kevin Por ...

. Jackson was selected by the

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

during the 2013 dispersal draft.

CIF

Jackson signed with the

Salina Bombers The Salina Bombers were a professional indoor football team based in Salina, Kansas. The team was founded by Chris Vercher, Jake Leighty and Jake Sharp in 2012 as charter member of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL). The B ...

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team fr ...

(CIF) on February 25, 2015. Jackson signed with the

Nebraska Danger The Nebraska Danger was a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Grand Island, Nebraska, and a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was founded in 2011 by Charlie Bosselman as an expansion member of ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

in March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Tyus 1983 births Living people American football linebackers Memphis Tigers football players Fort Wayne Fusion players Kansas City Command players Quad City Steamwheelers players Milwaukee Iron players Milwaukee Mustangs (2009–2012) players Chicago Rush players New Orleans VooDoo players Salina Bombers players Nebraska Danger players Champions Indoor Football coaches Arena Football League (2024) coaches Woodlawn High School (Birmingham, Alabama) alumni