Malik Jackson (born June 10, 1985) is a former professional American and Canadian football

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He was signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

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 2008. 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 the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

. Jackson was a member of the

Albany Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

and

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

Early years

Jackson was born on June 10, 1985, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He attended

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 ...

in Georgia for four years. During his senior season, he totaled 93 tackles, two tackles for losses and four forced

fumbles A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

. During high school Jackson played at

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

College career

Jackson played for the

for his collegiate career. As a freshman in 2004 he appeared in 11 games mostly on special teams and recorded eight tackles. Against

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

he recorded a career-high three tackles and added two against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. During his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

season in 2005, Jackson played in all 12 games and had career high 30 tackles. Jackson made four tackles in his first collegiate start against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He added seven tackles which became his career high against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

and then two against

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. In 2006, as a junior he played in all of the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

13 games which included the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. He ranked third on the team with 57 tackles and second in the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

in sacks and tackles for a loss. Jackson led Louisville in sacks with nine and tackles for a loss with 16. In the Orange Bowl, he had four tackles and two for a loss, also recording a sack and a fumble recovery. The fumble recovery came with 1:55 left in the second half and was considered controversial as to whether Kenneth Moore of Wake Forest's knee had hit the ground. His fumble recovery was also the first of his Louisville career. After the season, he was named to the second-team All-Big East team.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Jackson signed as an

with the

on April 28, 2008. He was released on August 12. During his stint with the Raiders he was listed as a

Albany Firebirds

Jackson signed with the

in 2009. On May 9, Jackson debuted with Albany and recorded a team high three pass breakups and four tackles. While with Albany, Jackson played both

and linebacker.

Calgary Stampeders

Jackson signed with the

on May 13, 2009, as a linebacker. He was released on July 8, but re-signed the next day to Calgary's

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, ...

. In his first appearance of the

2009 Calgary Stampeders season The 2009 Calgary Stampeders season was the 52nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 71st overall. The Stampeders attempted to repeat as Grey Cup champions. The Stampeders finished in second place with a 10–7–1 recor ...

, Jackson recorded one

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackle. In a 44–9 victory over the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

in Week 3, Jackson was runner-up for the league's defensive player of the week award (behind teammate

Dwaine Carpenter Dwaine L. Carpenter (born November 4, 1976) is a former gridiron football defensive back. He was signed as a street free agent by the Buffalo Destroyers in 2002. He played college football for the North Carolina A&T Aggies. Carpenter has also pl ...

) after recording six tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Malik Jackson spent 5 seasons (2009 through 2013) with the Stampeders, totalling 214 tackles, 26 special teams tackles, 11 sacks, 2 interceptions, 7 fumble recoveries and 2 defensive touchdowns. Jackson suffered a broken arm in the

2013 CFL season The 2013 CFL season was the 60th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 56th season of the Canadian Football League. The pre-season began on June 12, 2013 and the regular season began on June 27, 2013. Regina, Saskatchewa ...

, which caused him to only play in 2 games that season. In the off-season Jackson was not re-signed by the Stampedes and became a free agent on February 11, 2014.

Ottawa Redblacks

On February 12, 2014, Jackson signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

.RedBlacks sign former Stampeder LB Jackson
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Malik 1985 births Living people People from Dunwoody, Georgia American football linebackers American football defensive backs American players of Canadian football Canadian football linebackers Canadian football defensive linemen Louisville Cardinals football players Quad City Steamwheelers players Players of American football from DeKalb County, Georgia Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) Oakland Raiders players Albany Firebirds (af2) players Calgary Stampeders players Dunwoody High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people