High School Career
Jackson attended Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas) and although he was a member of the powerful Lamar Vikings teams of the late 1990s, he never started a game in his two years on the varsity team because he was considered too small (5-8, 160 pounds) and too slow. He began his senior year as a third-string running back, and only after a knee injury to starter Justin Faust (headed to Stanford), was he elevated to second-string behind Tommicus Walker (headed to TCU).
During his senior year, 13 of his teammates signed letters of intent to play college football, but he didn't receive any offers. Instead, Wayne Phillips, his Nichols Junior High School football coach, arranged for him and his brother to enroll into Coe College, a Division III school that doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. Later in life, Phillips would help Jackson again recommending him to Coe alumnus Marv Levy.
Read more about this topic: Fred Jackson (American Football)
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