Star kick returners are often stereotyped as me-first players who love the spotlight, love to talk and are as renowned for their end-zone celebrations as they are for what gets them there.
Not Tristan Jackson of the Edmonton Eskimos. Not by a long shot.
Jackson, the CFL's breakout star early this season, just might be the most polite, understated and unselfish football player on the planet.
"I just got great guys around me," said the 22-year-old Mississippi native, who also plays defensive back. "The vets have been helping me a lot, the coach has got great schemes and the blockers are making it happen. I enjoy running for them and they enjoy blocking for me. I'm nothing special."
The evidence suggests Jackson is wrong on the last point, given that other teams have already begun to avoid him on kickoffs, choosing to surrender field position instead of risking a big return. After he ran one back for a touchdown against the Toronto Argonauts last Sunday (his second return touchdown against Toronto in two games), the Argos tried to avoid him the rest of the way. Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach Charlie Taaffe has suggested his team will follow a similar script when his team takes on visiting Edmonton tonight at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
"It's kind of frustrating, but sooner or later they have to kick it to me," Jackson said. "And if they don't kick it to me [and kick it short instead], we'll have great field position."
Jackson is not a great conversationalist. His end of a conversation with head coach Danny Maciocia is usually a series of "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" answers, articulated in his polite Southern accent.
"My first conversation with Tristan was extremely short, about three minutes, but I spoke for about two minutes and 58 seconds," Maciocia said. "It was 'Yes, sir' and 'No, sir,' and I couldn't get him to say anything else. Right then I knew what we had as an individual, but did I know what we had as a player? He's a great kid. You wish you had 53 or 54 of him.
"But our conversations are: 'Are you healthy?' 'Yes, sir.' 'Do you need a break?' 'No, sir.' 'Do you want to go out there?' 'Yes, sir.' That's really about it."
Jackson credits his mother, Caretha, a caretaker in a group home, for raising him to be modest. But his experience as a football player has been humbling as well.
Jackson tore an anterior cruciate ligament during his senior year in high school and wasn't offered any college scholarships. He walked on at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss., before transferring as a walk-on to the University of Central Arkansas, where he led the conference with a 23.6-yard punt return average last season.
But success has never gone to his head.
"The way I was raised, I'm not a showoff," Jackson said. "I'm just humble, and everything I do I believe in the guys around me. A lot of guys act when they get to the end zone like they've done it themselves. But I know I'm there because of the 10 or 11 guys around me.
"My mom always told me, it's not about you. Just keep God first and other people around you will help you."
Jackson's gentle and soft-spoken nature shouldn't be confused with an absence of toughness. Last fall at Central Arkansas, he played the second half of the season with two broken wrists. The injuries, both suffered when he was trying to make a tackle as a defensive back, were diagnosed as sprains. So Jackson had the team tape him up before each game and took painkillers as well. He was able to play, but was limited to carrying the ball in his right hand.
"My left one was really bad," he said.
It wasn't until after the season, when his wrists continued to ail him, that he learned he'd broken them.
"They took the X-rays and said, 'Hey, you've got two broken wrists,' " Jackson said. "My coach was shocked and said, 'Man, you're one tough cookie.' But I just love the game."
Jackson has made an impression on his teammates, who've been energized by his game-changing abilities. With good reason, Jackson leads the CFL in punt and kickoff return average and has the league's only two touchdowns by return this season.
"There's a sense of excitement in our special teams meetings," Maciocia said. "When we sit there and watch film and when the coach designs returns for Tristan, he's got the attention of the whole room, not just the guys with assignments. We haven't had that for a long time."
