Vikings in Monday night’s NFL playoffs: Khyree Jackson ‘watching us’

Vikings in Monday night’s NFL playoffs: Khyree Jackson ‘watching us’

The Minnesota Vikings have two rookies on their roster who played their NFL playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night in Alabama – kicker Will Reichard and outside linebacker Dallas Turner.

There should be a third — cornerback Khyree Jackson.

Jackson died with two of his high school teammates in a traffic accident on July 6 – 15 days before he was scheduled to report to his first NFL training camp.

Jackson traded to the Vikings from Oregon in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on April 27 after the cornerback played the previous two seasons for the Crimson Tide. Jackson had signed his first professional contract and participated in Minnesota’s offseason program. He was on summer vacation when he died at the age of 24.

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores said Minnesota’s defense tried to keep Jackson around all season.

“When this all happened and I got a chance to talk to the group,” Flores said last week, “the message was: We’re going to honor him with the way we played, which was physical, because he’s a physical player was.”, and disciplined and fast. The only thing I mentioned to those guys at the time was – and it definitely came true – that he was a guy who liked to have a good time and enjoyed playing the game – I think I got that Word “swaggy” used. which I don’t normally use back then – and I think we succeeded.

“But it was definitely a tough defeat early on. It was one of those things that brought the group together early on. In a short period of time he had a huge influence on many people. We talked about honoring him. The best way to achieve this was with a playstyle that reflected the playstyle we expected or would see from him. Hopefully we managed that. And I think he watches us and appreciates us having a good time and playing like that.”

The Vikings remembered Jackson in other ways, too.

As with every game this season, a locker will be set up for Jackson for playoff contention, filled with the gear and the No. 31 jersey he would have worn.

In the locker is an open Bible to Jeremiah 29:11 with a bookmark to James 1:12. The former was one of Jackson’s favorite Bible verses, and the latter was quoted by Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell when he spoke at the team’s celebration of Jackson’s life in August.

The Vikings will face the Rams with stickers on their helmets bearing Jackson’s initials.

The NFL team paid the uncollected portion of Jackson’s $827,148 signing bonus to his estate and donated $20,000 toward his funeral.

The Vikings also tried to stay close to Jackson’s family during the cornerback’s rookie season. Jackson’s younger brother, Kolston Jackson, served as honorary captain for Minnesota’s first preseason game. The family attended the team’s rookie weekend in November along with the families of the Vikings’ other first-year players.

Jackson had a winding road ahead of him to get to the Vikings.

After high school, Jackson attended Arizona Western. But he never played there. The homesick teenager returned to Maryland and got a job at Harris Teeter. But Jackson wasn’t done with football and to get into the NFL, he played wide receiver at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and then moved to defensive back at East Mississippi Community College. That led to 21 games and one start at Alabama before transferring to Oregon, where he recorded three interceptions in his only season with the Ducks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *