Dexter Myles Jackson (born August 5, 1986) is a former

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 ...

wide receiver. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the second round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. He 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 ...

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

. Jackson was also a member of the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 UFL season, 2011 season. They played their ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and

High Country Grizzlies The High Country Grizzlies were a professional indoor football team that began play in the 2017 season. Based in Boone, North Carolina, the Grizzlies played their home games at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachi ...

Early years

He attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Dunwoody High School Dunwoody High School is a public high school in Dunwoody, an incorporated city in DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Dunwoody enrolls students in Educational stages, grades ninth grade, 9-twelfth ...

Dunwoody, Georgia Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to t ...

College career

Jackson proved key in one of college football's biggest upsets, recording two

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 and 92 yards as well as 19 yards rushing, in the Mountaineers' 34-32 Week 1 win over the No. 5 ranked

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

in 2007. A photograph of Jackson in the act of running the ball past the Michigan defense was run on th
cover
of the September 10, 2007 edition of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''.

Professional career

Pre-draft

At the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

, Jackson ran the manually timed

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

(4.27 seconds) faster than any other receiver which bumped his value up the Buccaneers' draft board.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jackson was drafted by the

in the second round (58th overall) of the

. On July 25, he signed a four-year contract. He played seven games for the team in 2008. The Buccaneers waived Jackson on August 31, 2009.

Carolina Panthers

The

signed Jackson to 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, ...

on October 12, 2009. After his contract expired following the season, he was re-signed to a future contract on January 4, 2010. Jackson was waived by the Panthers on August 31, 2010.

Virginia Destroyers

Jackson was signed by the

of the United Football League on May 23, 2011.

New York Jets

Jackson was signed to the

' practice squad on November 9, 2011. He was released on November 19. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 30. Jackson was waived on August 25, 2012.

High Country Grizzlies

On December 19, 2016, Jackson signed with the

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

(NAL) to be the marquee player and face of the team for marketing and ticket sales during their inaugural 2017 season. He agreed to a contract that included sales incentives and a relocation reimbursement for Jackson and his family. Jackson initially requested his ticket sales incentives in February prior to the start of the season, but Jackson would leave the team over non-payment in May and the league suspended Jackson. In August, Jackson took the Grizzlies to arbitration with the league and the NAL ruled in Jackson's favor with the team owing Jackson US$9,500. Jackson filed another complaint with

Watauga County Watauga County ( )
from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

over continued non-payment by the team as of January 2018.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Dexter 1986 births Living people People from Decatur, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from DeKalb County, Georgia American football wide receivers American football return specialists Appalachian State Mountaineers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Carolina Panthers players Virginia Destroyers players New York Jets players High Country Grizzlies players Dunwoody High School alumni