With the National Football League player lockout in full effect, players are spending their free time staying in shape and wondering when the lockout will be over.
Former Indianapolis Colt Marlin Jackson is one of the few exceptions. He is spending his time giving back and investing in young people. Although Jackson left the Colts several years ago, his heart has never left the Indianapolis community. From June 20 to June 25, Jackson will be hosting a week of football camps, clinics and events at Thomas Carr Howe Community High School and Northwest High School.
Jackson grew up in Sharon, Pa., were he was an All-American football player at Sharon High School. He went on to play collegiate football at the University of Michigan where he was a team captain, an All-Big Ten selection, and an All-American for the Wolverines in both 2003 and 2004. The Indianapolis Colts selected him with the 29th overall pick in the 2005 draft. He played with the Colts for five years.
I caught up with Jackson to talk about his camp and Colts memories.
Coach E: What are some of your highlights with the Colts?
Marlin Jackson: I still remember draft day and feeling like I had accomplished a life-long dream. I still remember my interception of a Tom Brady pass to help send the Colts to the Super Bowl and of course winning the Super Bowl.
Most people don’t know how much adversity you have faced as an athlete. How have you been able to stay focused through everything you have been through?
Yes, I’ve had to face great adversity in my career; I’ve faced three career ending injuries – two ACL ligament tears in my knees and one Achilles rupture in my ankle. They all happened one after another. Most athletes are done after one of these injuries, but I was able to overcome these injuries and make it back through my faith in Jesus Christ and his plan for my life.
When I look back on the process of my injuries, I realize that sometimes in life we have to suffer and be broken down as low as possible so that God can put us back together – not the way that we want, but by his own will.
I still see you around even though this is not your home. Why?
I am still very active in the Indianapolis community. The things that I’ve done and continue to do were never done because I was a Colts player; they were done because I love to help those in need. Football has just been a tool to help me do so.
I love the game of football with all my heart, but it is a game. As athletes, I believe that it’s important that we use the platform we have to help those who are less fortunate. That was probably the most important lesson that I learned from coach Tony Dungy.
Tell us about your football camp?
The Fight for Life/IPS football camp is a great tool to teach important life lessons to our urban youth. Football can teach young people accountability, responsibility, teamwork and perseverance – all these lessons that lie within the game of football, along with the lessons we all have a lot of fun coaching and playing the game we love.
How would you like the Indianapolis community to remember you?
I would like people in the Indianapolis community to remember me as a man who loved to help those in need as we all should.
