D'Marco Carnelius Jackson (born July 20, 1998) 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 wit ...

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, pl ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

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 ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at Appalachian State.

High school career

Jackson grew up in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

and attended

Broome High School Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Off ...

. As a senior, Jackson was a finalist for the South Carolina's Mr. Football award. As a senior, Jackson recorded 78 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and a sack. He was listed as a two-star recruit and the 61st best player in South Carolina by

247Sports.com 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite be ...

. Jackson committed to

Appalachian State University 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 ...

over offers from

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and Georgia Southern.

College career

Jackson redshirted his first year on campus and appeared in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman, recording 25 tackles and two tackles for loss. The following season, Jackson had 60 tackles and three sacks. In his junior season, he tallied 87 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, and he was named to the second-team All-

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — ...

. Both of Jackson's interceptions came in a 45–17 victory over

Arkansas State 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 ...

. Jackson played in all 14 games his senior season. He would have a career high 119 tackles and six sacks, as well as a forced fumble. Jackson was named to the first-team All-Sun Belt and the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year. Jackson would play in 53 games with the Mountaineers, were they amassed a record of 43–10.

Professional career

Jackson was drafted by the

in the fifth round (161st overall) of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on August 9, 2022.

Personal life

Jackson is the cousin of former NFL running back Maurice Morris.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio

Appalachian State Mountaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, D'Marco Living people 1998 births Sportspeople from Spartanburg, South Carolina American football linebackers Appalachian State Mountaineers football players Players of American football from South Carolina New Orleans Saints players