Eddie Paul Jackson Jr. (born December 19, 1980) is an American

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and former

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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

. He was signed by 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 ...

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 ...

in 2004. 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 ...

for

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. He is a member of the

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...

fraternity. Jackson was also a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

College career

In college, Jackson started 21 of 47 games at both the cornerback and

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

slots for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

and totaled 174 tackles, 35 passes defensed, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. He also ran the high hurdles for the national champion Razorback track team. Jackson was also a College All-American in Track and Field where he won four national titles. He still holds the freshman record for the 110 high hurdles.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Jackson was signed as an

by the

in 2004.

Miami Dolphins

He spent the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

seasons with the

, and ended his last year 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 ...

with a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

suffered in a December 25 contest. Due in part to his injury, Jackson was not tendered a contract by the Dolphins as a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

New England Patriots

On March 19, 2007, Jackson signed a two-year deal with the

. The contract contained no signing bonus, and base salaries of $1,510,000 in 2007 and $1,605,000 in 2008. He was released by the Patriots during the 2007 season.

Washington Redskins

Jackson was signed by the

during the 2008 offseason, but was released on June 5.

''MasterChef'' and Food Network

After retiring from football, Jackson became a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

, as well as owning a food truck, Caribbean Grill, in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Cooking had been a lifelong passion of his. Jackson competed on

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

of the

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

cooking competition show ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and John ...

'' in 2013, finishing in 7th place. Jackson then competed on Season 11 of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

series ''

Food Network Star ''Food Network Star'' is a reality television series that premiered June 5, 2005. It was produced by CBS EYEtoo Productions for seasons 1–8 and by Triage Entertainment for subsequent seasons. It airs on the Food Network in the United States. ...

'' in 2015,Cash, Rana L
For Eddie Jackson, Food Network Star door swings open after NFL door closed
''Sporting News'', June 24, 2015, Retrieved 2015-06-24 and won the season, beating out eleven other contestants. As a reward for winning ''Food Network Star'', Jackson got his own Food Network cooking competition series, '' BBQ Blitz'', in which contestants competed to create the best barbecue dish; Jackson served as the host. The show ran for six episodes in late 2015. Since 2016 he has hosted the Food Network cooking competition series '' Kids BBQ Championship''. For the first season in 2016 his co-host was model

Camila Alves Camila Alves McConaughey ( Alves; born 28 January 1982) is a Brazilian model and designer. She is married to American actor Matthew McConaughey. Early life Camila Alves was born in Itambacuri, Minas Gerais, Brazil, about 250 miles east of the p ...

, while for the 2nd season in 2017 his co-host was fellow ''Food Network Star'' winner (season 9)

Damaris Phillips Damaris Lennon Phillips (born December 8, 1980) is an American chef and television personality. In 2013 she won the ninth season of the Food Network television series ''Food Network Star''. She hosted the Food Network show '' Southern at Hea ...

. He also infrequently served as a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

on ''Clash of the Grandmas''. Jackson is the current host of ''Christmas Cookie Challenge'' on the Food Network, as well as one of the judges. Jackson has also appeared on ''Chopped'' as a judge. In 2021, he was a team captain of ''

BBQ Brawl ''BBQ Brawl'' (titled ''BBQ Brawl: Flay v. Symon'' during the first season) is an American cooking competition television series that airs on Food Network. Production The first three seasons were filmed at the Star Hill Ranch in Austin, Texas, ...

'' competing against

Bobby Flay Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...

and

Michael Symon Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as ''Iron Chef America' ...

. Jackson also served as a judge on seasons 11 & 12 of ''

Halloween Wars ''Halloween Wars'' is an American reality competition series from Super Delicious, the production company that also produces ''Cupcake Wars'' and ''Cake Wars''. It premiered on October 2, 2011, on Food Network and it runs over the course of four ...

'' in October 2021 & 2022. He is currently the host of Outchef’d on the

as well as the host of Christmas Cookie Challenge (2022) with co-host Ree Drummond

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Eddie 1980 births Living people African-American chefs Chefs from Texas American male chefs American chefs African-American male track and field athletes African-American players of American football African-American television hosts American football cornerbacks American male hurdlers Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes Carolina Panthers players Food Network Star winners Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players People from Americus, Georgia People from Richardson, Texas Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Texas Washington Redskins players Track and field athletes in the National Football League Food Network chefs 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people