GAMEDAY: Eddie Jackson continues his rise

Eddie Jackson came shockingly close to never playing major college football. Heck, he almost never played high school football either.

The University of Alabama’s star senior safety wasn’t eligible to play his first three seasons of high school because of grade issues. While his best friends made Parade All-American lists and took part in the Under Armour All-American game, Jackson stewed in the background, under the radar to all except those in the know.

Today, he’s on the precipice of becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree, he’s the returning conference leader in interceptions and he’s a team leader.

No example is greater to show how far Jackson has traveled than in last Saturday night’s blowout win over Southern Cal, when Jackson got caught up in the maelstrom on the sideline when sophomore safety Ronnie Harrison lost his cool, letting his emotions get the best of him. When Jackson told his safety running mate to calm down, Harrison screamed at Jackson through and around players. It was chaotic.

Perhaps Nick Saban said it best when describing what happened when he said: “I think the lesson to be learned is that when you have a teammate who is caring about you and trying to help you, the response should be ‘Thank you,’ not ‘Screw you.’”

There was a time in his life, not too terribly long ago, when Jackson might have been on the other end of that exchange. That time has passed, though. He’s now the guy counseling younger players on the virtues of overcoming adversity rather than drowning in it.

Overcoming adversity isn’t new to Jackson. It’s precisely how he’s come so far.

His freshman season he lined up incorrectly and stretched with the offensive lineman, earning the ridicule of Saban on national television during a CBS “60 Minutes” broadcast. Then there was his sophomore year in the Iron Bowl when he was repeatedly torched by Auburn for big play after big play.