Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson (22) runs with the ball as New England Patriots defensive end Shaun Ellis (94) pursues during the third quarter at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sunday.Kevin Hoffman-US PRESSWIRE
Fred Jackson's college football coach remembers feeling disheartened by the report back from an NFL scout who had just worked out his star running back: He was too small to play in the league, just not good enough.
It's surreal to think back on it today, as Erik Raeburn routinely catches the now 6-foot-1, 215-pound Jackson on the highlight shows, roaring into the end zone for the surprising 4-2 Buffalo Bills.
Raeburn recalls Jackson running multiple events at a track meet, attending graduation and working out for the scout, all within a few days at U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III school Coe College in Iowa. An all-America track star, Jackson was lighter and slimmer for that sport's season than he had been running the football the fall before. Still, the Green Bay Packers scout felt he was undersized.
Other scouts had passed on Jackson as well, and this was the last one coming to evaluate him. Raeburn may have had a sinking feeling from the news, but said Jackson didn't seem to be discouraged by the message.
"Two days later, there was Freddy asking me to send tapes out to Arena League teams and wherever else, he wasn't giving up," said Raeburn, now the coach at Wabash College in Indiana. "It never shook his confidence. It was almost like he thought, 'Oh well, they're missing out big time.' "
After school, the versatile running back suited up for the indoor league Sioux City Bandits for two seasons. (He was the co-MVP of the league in 2005.)
Jackson then played a year in NFL Europe for the Rhein Fire.
Former Buffalo coach Marv Levy, a Coe alumnus, invited Jackson to try out for the Bills when he became the team's general manager in 2006. Since then, Jackson has gone from the practice squad to earning a spot on the roster, taking the starting running back's job from former first-round pick Marshawn Lynch, and then keeping it despite the addition of another first-rounder, C.J. Spiller, in 2010.
In a true breakout season, Jackson's 100.2 yards per game, along with six rushing touchdowns, are second in the league only to Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who has played seven games to Jackson's six in 2011.
"I think I need to think about it every day," Jackson said of his working-man's journey to the NFL. "It's what's motivating me to be here, so it's something that I try and reflect on it as much as possible. It's one of the things that keeps me motivated out here."
The 30-year-old has gone from being a running back no NFL team wanted to one with his own life-size Fathead-brand wall sticker on the market, and a throng of Bills fans buzzing online about nicknames to adorn the rising star.
The Buffalo offence is full of players whose names were rarely uttered around the NFL a couple of seasons ago: Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and wide receiver Steve Johnson were seventh-round picks, while receivers Donald Jones and David Nelson were, like Jackson, not drafted.
"We definitely feed off each other," Jackson said. "We have a lot of no-name guys, so to speak, that are trying to make plays for each other."
A popular T-shirt worn by some in the Bills locker room these days honours Jackson with the words: "Reppin D3 Nation, Pledge your allegiance."
"I've had a lot of e-mails from guys who played against Freddy in college saying, 'I don't feel so bad now, guys in the NFL can't stop him either,' " Raeburn said. "I think every D3 guy is pulling for him."
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