Christopher Jackson (born February 26, 1975) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former wide receiver who is the

wide receivers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive and Defensive c ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. Jackson played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cert ...

before moving onto

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

after one year. In both 1996 and 1997, Jackson was a starter for the

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

and was considered a favorite target of

Ryan Leaf Ryan David Leaf (born May 15, 1976) is a former American football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys between 1998 and 2001, and also p ...

. After going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and spent the season on their

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. Following his stint in Tampa Bay he would spend three seasons split with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. In 2000, after his first stint in the NFL was over, Jackson signed with the AFL's

Los Angeles Avengers The Los Angeles Avengers were an Arena Football League team based in Los Angeles, California, from 2000 through 2008. They folded on April 19, 2009. History The Los Angeles Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center, which is also th ...

. He spent three seasons with Los Angeles and was named the AFL's Rookie of the Year and totaled 3,255 yards, 238 catches and 67

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. After the Avengers, Jackson was given another opportunity in the NFL to play for the Green Bay Packers in 2002 and 2003. In his three active seasons in the NFL, he played in one game for the Titans in 2000, and one game each season (2002–03) for the Packers. Following the end of his playing career, Jackson began a career in coaching with the

as a defensive assistant in 2019.

Early years

He attended Mater Dei High School in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. Jackson played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

as a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er and a

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

er, but did not play

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. He played in a state championship basketball game during his time at Mater Dei and ended up losing to a team led by former NBA player

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest point guards ...

Playing career

College

Orange Coast College

Jackson attended Orange Coast College for a year and got his first taste of organized football in 1994. He averaged 21.1 yards per reception.

Washington State

Jackson attended

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

in 1996 and 1997 where he was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

where he was a favorite target of college teammate Ryan Leaf. As a senior, he made 54 receptions for 1,005 yards and eleven touchdowns, and helped in leading his team to the Rose Bowl.

National Football League

Jackson was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent part of the year on their practice squad. On April 28, 1999 he was signed by the Seattle Seahawks. During the 1998 and 1999 season he spent time on the

practice roster In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

and was waived on September 6, 1999. Shortly after his release from the Seahawks, Jackson was signed by the Tennessee Titans. On October 5, 1999 he made his professional debut against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

but was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on December 1. On March 1, 2001, the Titans released Jackson.

Arena Football League

Jackson was signed by the Los Angeles Avengers before the

2000 Arena Football League season The 2000 Arena Football League season was the 14th season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 2001. The league champions were the Orlando Predators, who defeated the Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League ...

. As a rookie in 2000 he was named Arena Football League Rookie of the Year and made the AFL All-Rookie squad after recording 1,325 receiving yards, 91 receptions, 26 touchdowns and 124.9 all-purpose yards per game. As a rookie, he posted nine 100 yard receiving games. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he played in nine games recording 62 catches, 725 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was named the Arena Football League Ironman of the Week after recording 12 receptions for 144 yards and four touchdowns against the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

. In a game against the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

he suffered a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his left foot which forced him to miss the final two games of the season. During the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

season he had 85 catches for 1,205 yards and 28 touchdowns after playing in ten games. Against the

Dallas Desperados The Dallas Desperados were a professional arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. The Desperados played in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008. The franchise began play in as an expansion team, and have post ...

he suffered a broken

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

but continued to play and made the game-winning touchdown catch with 13 seconds left to play. After his failed stint with the Packers, Jackson made a return to the Avengers for the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. In his fourth year with the team he recorded 117 catches, 1,737 yards and 46 touchdowns and was named the AFL Offensive player of the Year. He became the first player to be named AFL Rookie of the Year and AFL Offensive player of the Year in

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

history. In 2004, following his fifth failed

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

stint he came back to the Avengers and posted 125 receptions, 1,803 receiving yards and 44 touchdowns. His 125 catches ranked him fourth in that category for the season. After the season, he became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. As a

he signed with the Grand Rapids Rampage but also spent time with the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

in 2005. He had 107 catches, 1,366 yards, and 29 touchdowns along with 18 rushing yards on five carries with three touchdowns. Against the

Austin Wranglers The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in af2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances i ...

he became the 11th player in AFL history to score 1,000 career points and became the 13th player in history to have 7,000 points and the 15th in history to have 500 catches. The game against the Wranglers was also ironically his debut game with the Force. His performance in the game earned him the AFL Ironman of the game award. He had his second AFL Ironman of the game award come against the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

later that year and also earned Player of the Week honors. In the conference championship game against the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

he was named

U. S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Ironman of the game. Against the Predators he had a game-high 147 receiving yards with eight catches and four touchdowns. Jackson started 14 of 16 games for the Force in 2006 and led the team with 1,468 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns. He returned 57 kickoffs for a total of 1,107 yards with two touchdowns and he returned three missed field goals for 94 yards and a touchdown. Against Orlando he was named Offensive player of the game after recording nine catches for 117 yards with three touchdowns and returning five kickoffs for a total of 77 yards. His second offensive player of the game honor came against the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fold ...

when he had 10 catches, 90 yards and four touchdowns. Against the Tampa Bay Storm he received his third offensive player of the game honor and his second career offensive player of week award by putting up 10 receptions, 124 yards and six touchdowns. Adding to that he had 75 yards on two kickoff returns, one of which he brought back for a touchdown. His offensive explosion set a franchise record for most individual points in a game with 42. Continuing his stellar season he had 126 yards on nine catches with four receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown against the

Kansas City Brigade Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

. He accumulated 141 yards on seven returns in the same game. His 268 total yards in the game made him second his Force history for yards in a game. The fourth offensive player of the game award came against the Austin Wranglers when he had 12 receptions, 117 yards and one touchdown. Rounding out the 2006 season he had seven catches for 61 yards with one touchdown against the Philadelphia Soul and had five touchdowns, 13 receptions and 180 receiving yards against the

New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...

. His performance against New York set franchise single-game records in receiving touchdowns, catches and receiving yards. In 2007, he had 51 total touchdowns and was named to the AFL All-Arena First-team. He rushed for 19 yards on nine attempts with four touchdowns, and had career highs with 1,915 receiving yards, 145 catches and 42 receiving touchdowns. His receiving yards and total touchdowns were second in the league but they were both team highs. He was named offensive player of the game twice against the Wranglers and Storm. Three times he was named Ironman Player of the Game against the Philadelphia Soul,

and Predators. After the season, he became a free agent. Jackson signed with the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

on November 8, 2007. Jackson helped lead the Philadelphia Soul to a championship in

ArenaBowl XXII ArenaBowl XXII was played on July 27, 2008 at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana (the host of ArenaBowl XXI). It was the 22nd and final championship game in the history of the Arena Football League, original Arena Football League. This was ...

, with 140 receptions for 1,692 yards and 49 TDs on the year. On Friday July 8, 2011 Jackson signed with the 14-2

to help them reach

ArenaBowl XXIV ArenaBowl XXIV was the 24th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League (AFL). The American Conference champion, Jacksonville Sharks, defeated the National Conference champion, Arizona Rattlers, 73–70. It was played on August 12, 2 ...

. In his first game back in the AFL since winning ArenaBowl XXII with the Soul, he caught 6 passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson made a second comeback with the Rattlers in 2014, signing on August 8, 2014, just before the National Conference Championship. The Rattlers reached Arena Bowl XXVII, beating the Cleveland Gladiators 72-32. Jackson scored two touchdowns in Arena Bowl XXVII at age 39.

Return to the NFL

Jackson signed with the Green Bay Packers on August 1, 2002. Jackson played for two seasons with the Packers (2002–03). He played in one game each season. The Packers won Back-to-Back NFC North Titles during Jackson’s time in Green Bay.

Canadian Football League

He was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on May 6, 2009 after the Arena Football League suspended the 2009 season and later folded. He was released by Winnipeg on June 20, 2009.

Coaching career

Chicago Bears

In 2018, Jackson was an assistant at the

' training camp as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, while also working as a wide receivers coach for Liberty High School in

Peoria, Arizona Peoria is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the state of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County, while a portion in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, the populati ...

. On February 12, 2019, Jackson was hired by the Bears as a defensive assistant under head coach

Matt Nagy Matthew Nagy ( or ; born April 24, 1978) is an American football coach, and former arena football quarterback, who is the senior assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head ...

. He was moved to assistant wide receivers coach in 2020. He was let by the Bears after the 2021 season.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 17, 2022, Jackson was hired by the

as their wide receivers coach under head coach

Doug Pederson Douglas Irvin Pederson (born January 31, 1968) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Pederson spent most of his 13-season playing career as ...

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars profileJust Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Chris 1975 births Living people American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Arizona Rattlers players Berlin Thunder players Canadian football wide receivers Chicago Bears coaches Georgia Force players Grand Rapids Rampage players Green Bay Packers players Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Los Angeles Avengers players Miami Dolphins players Orange Coast Pirates football players People from Bristol, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Soul players Players of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tennessee Titans players Washington State Cougars football players