Those tasks completed, it seems a perfect time for City Champ – a nickname that has been with him since childhood, he said – to reflect on 65 years and a relationship with a city that has watched him grow from a rambunctious youngster to elder statesman.
“I’ve had a great life here,” said Jackson, who also spends time in West Palm Beach, Fla. “Coming here in ’81 as a young man, and getting a chance to grow all these years here, everybody kind of embraced me. It’s like a new home for me, that’s why I’ve never left here, because the people are like family. It’s like I made a new family.
“I always tried to have business in the city, and it worked out for me. I still have a lot of business that I do in the city, so I have to be here.”
Even when he isn’t here, he’s here, especially during football season. The No. 57 jersey remains a fan favorite, and rightfully so.
Jackson was the Saints’ all-time leader in sacks, with 115 in 195 games, from 1993 until last season, when defensive end Cam Jordan topped the mark. He remains the franchise leader with 38 forced fumbles – he led the league in forced fumbles four times – and is second in fumble recoveries with 27 (he leads defensive players; quarterback Drew Brees had 28).
He was a five-time All-Pro, a seven-time Pro Bowler and is a member of the Saints Hall of Fame and one of the initial inductees into the Saints Ring of Honor.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Even when I go downtown, you see ’57’ and you see ‘Jackson,’ it means they appreciate some of the things you did while you were here on the field.”
Now, long off the field, Jackson has the opportunity to reflect and take stock of what he sees in today’s NFL. The starkest difference, of course, is financially.
“There’s so much money out there now,” he said. “When I was coming along, it was about trying to make some Pro Bowls and trying to see how far you can go with football. It’s not like that now.
“They’re giving guys $10 million, $15 million and they don’t have to do nothing. I don’t blame them, though. We didn’t have money like that and guys before us didn’t have money like that and now, you look at a defensive guy getting $20 or $30 million. Imagine if L.T. and Reggie White could have made that kind of money.
“It wasn’t there for us. It’s there for the young boys, I’m happy for them. Some of them are stealing, but I’m still happy for them.”
City Champ is still City Champ.
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