How CCU’s Tarron Jackson fulfilled a promise to late brother as a pick in NFL Draft
Promise kept.
When Tarron Jackson was selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft on Saturday by the Philadelphia Eagles, he fulfilled a promise he made to his late older brother Daron in 2008.
Jackson, who was then 9 years old – hence his No. 9 college jersey number – told Daron before he died of leukemia that he would make it to the NFL in his honor.
So as soon as the Coastal Carolina defensive end’s name was called, Jackson thought of his bright future, but also of a tragic yet inspiring moment in his past.
“I’ll let him know I fulfilled the promise that I told him before he passed,” Jackson said. “. . . I told him I was going to go to the NFL. Between me and my brother football was always our connection. When I made that promise I was [determined] that I was going to do it.”
Though the Aiken native got away from organized football for a few years, he returned to it as a sophomore at Silver Bluff High and set about keeping his word.
“I started football my sophomore year in high school. I was a little late,” Jackson said. “But I always knew that I was going to get back into it and I was going to put my all into it, and I knew if I put my all into something I could make it a reality.”
Jackson said he will take the same mentality to the NFL that he took to his career at Coastal, which led to him being named the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American.
“I think I have to keep the same mindset I had throughout college,” he said. “Coming into college I already had a chip on my shoulder because I was doubted, and going into the NFL it’s going to be the same thing. I’ll have to work my way up, and build myself up every year getting better and better by working on my craft until I elevate to a higher level and be on that Pro Bowl level.”
The Eagles finished last in the NFC East at 4-11-1 last year and their starting defensive ends were Derek Barnett, a fifth-year pro out of Tennessee, and Brandon Graham, a 12-year NFL veteran out of Michigan. They took a pair of defensive tackles among their six picks ahead of Jackson, but he was their first defensive end selected.
“They’re getting a diamond in the rough,” Jackson said. “They’re going to get a guy who is going to come in right away and make an impact.”
Piling up awards
Jackson has a long list of honors for his senior season. He was a finalist for the Lombardi Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Lott IMPACT Trophy, and a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award and William V. Campbell Trophy. He was selected to play in both the East-West Shrine Bowl and Reese’s Senior Bowl, and chose the Senior Bowl.
He was also named first team All-America by the Associated Press, ESPN, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of American, the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Senior Bowl, and Phil Steele Publication, and second team by The Sporting News, CBS Sports/247Sports, and Senior CLASS.
Jackson, who was a First Team All-Sun Belt selection following his junior season – becoming just the second CCU player to be named to the conference’s first team at the time – was invited to the NFL Combine but it was not held because of the coronavirus.
That led to scouts from about 15 NFL teams traveling to Conway on March 23 for CCU’s Pro Day at Brooks Stadium, when Jackson and three other Chants or former Chants worked out and went through drills, including Chants 2020 leading rusher and No. 2 all-time program leading rusher C.J.. Marable.
After going undrafted, Marable signed with the Chicago Bears early Saturday evening.
Jackson’s agent, Chris Turnage of the United Athlete Sports agency based in Arkansas, unofficially had Jackson running 40-yard dash times of 4.62 to 4.66, which both he and Jackson were pleased with — though timers were hand-held and CCU unofficially had the 40 times at 4.70 and 4.71 — and posting a 9-foot, 10-inch broad jump that matched a personal best.
He also posted a 4.51-second short shuttle, 7.45-second three-cone drill, 29.5-inch vertical jump, and 25 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press.
Jackson, who measured a chiseled 6-foot-2 and 254 pounds at CCU’s Pro Day, has been training since the end of the 2020 season at the highly regarded Michael Johnson Performance center in Texas, where he feels he has improved.
“It’s not just the Michael Johnson [center] because every year I feel like I get better,” Jackson said. “I learn from my past mistakes and I build off of them. So right now I’m definitely a much better football player than I was back in college.”
Leaving a legacy
Despite seeing double teams on more than 60 percent of his snaps this past season, according to CCU athletics, Jackson recorded 54 tackles, 14 tackles for loss including 8.5 sacks, 18 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 12 games.
For his CCU career, he recorded 195 tackles, 44.5 tackles for loss, 26.5 sacks and six forced fumbles in 48 games and holds several program career records.
“I think the thing with him is his motor and his effort,” Coastal head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “. . . I think where he made most of his plays was his motor was just relentless. Where other people might have stopped playing he kept going and was able to get a sack or a forced fumble or pressure the quarterback because he just kept playing so hard. And that’s a talent in my opinion to play and just empty your tank. We’ll definitely miss that. He was a great example of what you want a player to be.”
Jackson has earned a Mathematics degree and was a 2021 NFF Hampshire Honor Society member, signifying he maintained a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2.
Many of Jackson’s former CCU coaches and teammates were undoubtedly watching the draft Saturday to hear the name of one of the team’s 2020 captains being called.
“Our whole team is excited for him because he wasn’t a highly recruited individual,” Chadwell said. “He was a two-star athlete out of high school. . . . To see a young person have motivation to work every day to put himself in a position to not only be a great player here but have the chance to play and get drafted in the NFL and pursue a dream everybody that plays football has, our team is overjoyed for him.”
Jackson is the seventh Chant in program history to be chosen in the NFL Draft and the first since running back De’Angelo Henderson was chosen by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Chants selected in the NFL Draft
QB Tyler Thigpen – 2007, Minnesota Vikings (7th Round)
WR Jerome Simpson – 2008, Cincinnati Bengals (2nd Round)
CB Josh Norman – 2012, Carolina Panthers (5th Round)
RB Lorenzo Taliaferro – 2014, Baltimore Ravens (4th Round)
WR Matt Hazel – 2014, Miami Dolphins (6th Round)
RB De’Angelo Henderson – 2017, Denver Broncos (6th Round)
DE Tarron Jackson – 2020, Philadelphia Eagles (6th Round)
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 4:06 PM.
