Fred Jackson (American football)

Frederick George "Fred" Jackson (born February 20, 1981) is an American football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He attended Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas. Jackson is known for his versatility and elusiveness, he is currently one of six team captains on the Buffalo Bills.

High school career
Jackson attended Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas) and although he was a member of the powerful Lamar Vikings teams of the late 1990s, he never started a game in his two years on the varsity team because he was considered too small (5-8, 160 pounds) and too slow. He began his senior year as a third-string running back, and only after a knee injury to starter Justin Faust (headed to Stanford), was he elevated to second-string behind Tommicus Walker (headed to TCU).

During his senior year, 13 of his teammates signed letters of intent to play college football, but he didn't receive any offers. Instead, Wayne Phillips, his Nichols Junior High School football coach, arranged for him and his brother to enroll into Coe College, a Division III school that doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. Later in life, Phillips would help Jackson again recommending him to Coe alumnus Marv Levy.

College career
Jackson played college football at Coe College, a Division III school. He was named to five All-American teams in 2002, rushing for 1,702 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was a two-time Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference MVP for the Kohawks. He graduated in 2003 with a degree in sociology.

Sioux City Bandits
After trying out for the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers, and being seen as too small a player for the NFL (6'1 but only 195 lbs.), he went on to play indoor football for the Sioux City Bandits where he earned $200 a week. Jackson played two seasons for the Bandits in the National Indoor Football League (2004) and United Indoor Football (2005). He was named the 2005 UIF co-MVP in 2005, as in 18 games he ran for 1,770 yards and scored 53 touchdowns (40 rushing, 11 pass receiving and 2 on kick returns). During this time he also worked as a youth counselor at Four Oaks to make ends meet. His jersey number was retired by the Sioux City Bandits in 2008.

While with the Bandits in 2004, Jackson's childhood home in Arlington, Texas was torn down to make way for Cowboys Stadium, which replaced Texas Stadium as the home of the Dallas Cowboys in 2009. Jackson played in his former neighborhood on November 13, 2011 when the Bills faced the Cowboys.

Rhein Fire
Jackson played in NFL Europa for the Rhein Fire in 2006, leading the team with 731 rushing yards.

Buffalo Bills
Jackson was invited to training camp with the Buffalo Bills in 2006 by Bills general manager Marv Levy, a Coe alumnus himself. He made his first career start against the Washington Redskins in 2007, rushing for 82 yards while catching four passes for 69 yards in a Bills victory. He became the first Division III running back to start an NFL game since December 24, 2000, when former Ferrum College running back Chris Warren started for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In a 2007 victory over the Miami Dolphins, Jackson rushed for 115 yards with a long of 27 yards to top the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time in his NFL career. Teammate Marshawn Lynch rushed for 107 yards, marking the first time the Buffalo Bills had two players rush for 100-plus yards in the same game since 1996 when Thurman Thomas and Darick Holmes accomplished the feat.

Before the 2009 season, Jackson signed a 4-year contract extension to stay with the Bills.

In 2009, after winning the starting job from Lynch in Week 12, Jackson eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career with 1,062 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also set a career high in catches with 46 for 371 yards and 2 more scores and also completed a 27-yard touchdown pass. Jackson also had 1,014 kickoff return yards making him the first player in NFL history to compile 1,000 rushing and 1,000 kickoff return yards. The 2,516 combined yards are the fifth highest all-purpose yards total in NFL history. In Week 17 of the 2009 season, versus the Indianapolis Colts, Jackson had a career day with 212 rushing yards and a receiving touchdown.

After the season, Jackson was named to the USA Today All-Joe Team for his quality play.

After Week 10 of the 2010 NFL Season, Fred was named Fedex Ground Player of the Week.

In 2011, Jackson was having his best season to date, as the team's undisputed starting running back. Jackson had six 100-yard rushing games in the first ten weeks. During a Week Eleven loss to Miami, however, Jackson suffered a fractured fibula. Jackson was placed on Injured Reserve later in the week, and missed the remainder of the season. At the time of his injury, Jackson's 934 yards were third in the NFL. The Bills had already been on a three-game losing streak when Jackson was injured, but lost all games but one for the rest of the 2011 season without Jackson.

On May 5, 2012 Fred Jackson signed a 2-year contract extension, keeping him with the Bills until 2015.

In week 1 of the 2012 season, Jackson injured a knee ligament. Coach Chan Gailey estimated Jackson would miss "a few weeks" of the season.

Trivia

 * Jackson wears number 22, in honor of hall-of-fame running back Emmitt Smith.