Football Star's Biggest Comeback Was in the Classroom

Don Jackson was just 16 years old when his outlook on life changed. A star rusher on the football field, Jackson was unable to run away from what he calls, “the stuff in the streets.” He didn’t plan to graduate, so classes were just obstacles. At home, Jackson said he was often in trouble.

The reality of that way of life struck last spring when a friend of Jackson, 17-year-old Marque Johnson, was shot and killed. Police called the killing gang-related.

“He was one of the people I was always with back in those days,” Jackson said. “I look at it now and a lot of the people I was with are either dead or in jail. I kind of looked at the whole thing and it was a wake up to do what I had to do, knowing I couldn’t end up like the rest of them.”

His perspective had changed, and from there, it was time to change his reality.

Jackson had a standout senior season at Laguna Creek High School last fall, rushing for 2,305 yards. Mark Nill, who has coached at Laguna Creek since the school opened in 1994, said Jackson ranks as one of his all-time great players.

His talent on the field was creating openings. But to play football at the college level, he’d need to transform his academic situation.

“At first, graduation was, you know, real far away,” Jackson said. “I tried to run away from school. Sometimes I wouldn’t show up for certain periods and was always in trouble, parents were always on me.

“In school, I felt like I didn’t want to ask questions and I felt like an idiot if I did. I felt smarter if I was just sitting there. If I asked a question, I felt like people would look at me like I was dumb. I wanted to keep an image, ‘Don is hard—or funny.’ I never wanted to look like an idiot.”

Jackson was stuck playing catch-up with his grades, far behind after years without effort. He couldn’t get his grade point average high enough to earn a college football scholarship.

But the running back, known for his toughness on the field, didn’t surrender. Following advice from the coaching staff at Washington State, Jackson aimed to graduate high school, attend a junior college and later transfer to the Pacific-12 Conference school.

“Washington State wanted to offer me a scholarship but knew I wouldn’t qualify academically,” he said.

Needing more credits to graduate than he could earn at Laguna Creek, Jackson went to Calvine High School, a continuation school, for the last two months of his senior year. The rebounding teen told Connie Afamasaga, registrar at Calvine, that he would do anything needed to graduate.

“Kids say they want to do this or that, but they often never come through and he did,” Afamasaga said. “I can tell you that the average student wouldn’t have done what he did. He worked very, very hard; day and night, all his weekends.”

Jackson said that Afamasaga was a big influence, placing him in the needed classes and putting deadlines in front of him.

“It took a lot of 4 a.m. nights and waking up early,” he recalled.

Though graduating was somewhat of a long shot, Jackson prevailed. He is now headed to the Midwest to play at Iowa Western Junior College, known as a prominent football school.

“I was very impressed,” Afamasaga said. “He was willing to accept the help. We opened the doors and he took it.”

This past weekend, Jackson shone one more time at the high school level, earning co-Most Valuable Player honors in the 55th annual Optimist All-Star Game, which showcases Sacramento's local football talent. He rushed for a record 191 yards in the game, including an 84-yard touchdown rush. Afamasaga was in attendance.

On Thursday, Jackson left for Iowa. It’s the farthest he’s ever been from his Elk Grove home. He hopes that if he excels academically and on the field, that will translate into a scholarship to play football at Washington State.

“I have learned new work habits,” Jackson said. “I will start off hitting the classroom hard. I will put school first.”