Tre' Jackson (born December 14, 1992) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

, earning

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

honors in 2014. He was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in the fourth round of the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

Early life

Jackson attended Wayne County High School in

Jesup, Georgia Jesup is a city in Wayne County, Georgia, Wayne County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 9,809 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Wayne County, Georgia, Wayne County. History By February 1869, Wi ...

, where he was a two-sport star in both track and

, where he was a two-way lineman. Jackson missed his entire junior season with an

ACL tear ACL may refer to: Aviation * IATA airport code for Aguaclara Airport in Casanare Department, Colombia Companies and organizations * ACL Cables, a cable manufacturing company in Sri Lanka * Administration for Community Living, United States, f ...

. In his senior year, Jackson helped protect quarterback

Greyson Lambert Greyson Bryce Lambert (born February 7, 1994) is a former American football quarterback and baseball pitcher, who began his college football career at the University of Virginia, where he spent three seasons playing for the Virginia Cavaliers. Af ...

, as the Yellow Jackets went 5–5 on the season. Jackson was also one of the state's top performers in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

(top-throw of ). Having missed his junior season, Jackson drew little attention as he entered his final year of high school. Recruiting services largely overlooked him, as he had three-star ratings from Rivals.com, Scout.com, and ''

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

''. Jackson originally committed to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

in October 2010, but changed his mind after getting offers from Miami (FL) and

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

late in the season. After Jackson agreed to an official visit to Florida State, Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson rescinded his scholarship offer. In February 2011, Jackson finally committed to Florida State.

College career

In his first year at Florida State, Jackson was expected to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

, especially after a groin injury caused him to miss the first five games of the season. But injuries to several

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

offensive linemen In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

eventually moved him into the rotation, primarily on

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 ...

but also at

. His college debut came in a 41–16 win over

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

on October 15, registering eight snaps. After playing sparingly the rest of the season, he played all 62 snaps in the 18–14

Champs Sports Bowl The Pop-Tarts Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. Originally commissioned as the Sunshine Classic, it has undergone many name changes due to sponsorship rights. The bowl is o ...

win over Notre Dame. Jackson played well enough in the bowl game that head coach

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach. He most recently served as the head football coach at Texas A&M Aggies, Texas A&M from 2018 until 2023. Prior to that, he led Florida State Seminoles, Fl ...

penciled him in as a starting right guard. He eventually started all 14 games as a sophomore and earned the second-highest season grade among Seminoles offensive linemen, second only to Bryan Stork. Jackson's 22 knockdown blocks rank third on the team. In his junior season, started another 14 games at right guard, including the

2014 BCS National Championship Game The 2014 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2014 Vizio BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was the national championship game of the 2013 college football season, which took place on Monday, January 6, 2014, whi ...

. The

finished the season 14–0 while setting school and conference season records for total offense (7,267 yards), points per game (51.6) and yards per play (7.67), and the national record for points (723), as freshman quarterback

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January6, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, becoming the youngest pl ...

became the youngest player ever to win the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

. Jackson was named a first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection. Forgoing a chance to enter the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

, Jackson returned his senior season and started all 14 games. He was again named a first team All-ACC, and was also a consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, the school's first since

Rodney Hudson William Rodney Hudson (born July 12, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning All-American honors twic ...

in 2010.

Professional career

New England Patriots

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'' ranked Jackson as the No. 4 offensive guard available in the

, behind only

Laken Tomlinson Laken Tomlinson (born February 9, 1992) is a Jamaican-American professional football guard for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils. He was selected by the Detroit Lions i ...

Ali Marpet Alexander "Ali" Marpet (; born April 17, 1993) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). Marpet played college football for the ...

, and

A. J. Cann Aaron Cann (born October 23, 1991) is an American professional football guard. He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and was selected in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Early life Can ...

. He was drafted by the

in the 4th round with the 111th pick overall in the

. He played in 13 games with nine starts at right guard his rookie year while dealing with a knee injury. Jackson started the season on Physically unable to perform with a knee injury. Unfortunately, his injury never healed in time and missed the entire 2016 season. On February 5, 2017, Jackson's Patriots won

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

. In the game, the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime. On April 18, 2017, Jackson was released by the Patriots.

Los Angeles Rams

On April 19, 2017, Jackson was claimed off waivers by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, but was waived two days later after failing his physical.

Orlando Apollos

On September 14, 2018, Jackson signed with the

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectr ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

(AAF).

Massachusetts Pirates

After the dissolution of the AAF in April 2019, Jackson signed with the Massachusetts Pirates of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL) on May 17, 2019. Jackson was named to the 2nd-Team All-NAL for the 2019 season.

Tampa Bay Vipers

In October 2019, Jackson was selected by the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Vipers competed in the XFL football league. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment as the Tampa Bay Vipers and were owned-and-oper ...

of the XFL in the 2020 XFL Draft. He and linebacker Reggie Northrup were the two Seminoles on the Vipers draft class.

References

External links

*
Florida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Tre' 1992 births Living people People from Jesup, Georgia Players of American football from Wayne County, Georgia American football offensive guards Florida State Seminoles football players All-American college football players New England Patriots players Orlando Apollos players Massachusetts Pirates players Tampa Bay Vipers players