Steven Jackson on entering the Beaver Hall of Fame: ‘There is a forever bond’
The Jacksons, from left: Kingston, Asia, Steven, Skyler. In front, Journey and Jax (courtesy Steven Jackson)
Steven Jackson is already a member of the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, was last year included in the Pac-12 Hall of Honor and one day may gain enshrinement into the NFL Hall of Fame.
But don’t think Jackson is taking for granted his induction into the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night in the Toyota Club at Reser Stadium.
“It’s amazing,” Jackson told me Monday in a phone conversation from his home in Henderson, Nev. “It’s like a warm hug. And Beaver football is doing so well — there is a lot to celebrate.”
This may be the most illustrious induction class ever at OSU. It includes one of Jackson’s coaches — Mike Riley — and teammates Mike Hass and Alexis Serna. Also, basketball’s Brent Barry, former athletic director Bob De Carolis, gymnastics’ Mandi Rodriguez, volleyball’s Rachel Rourke and rowing’s Josh Inman, along with the 2006 women’s softball team and the 2016 women’s basketball squad.
“It’s a class of excellence, for sure,” says Jackson, 40. “It’s one I’m very humbled to be a part of. Particularly having played with Mike and Alexis and also being coached by Coach Riley — it’s like a bow on top of what was already a great gift.
“I’ve been in some heated battles with all of them. We all put in a lot of work to get to what we accomplished.”
Jackson pauses and offers another thought.
“I’m always overwhelmed with the support Oregon State has shown me despite my time there being brief — just three seasons,” he says. “The impact I left on the community and it left on me as well has been immense. Because of that, there is a forever bond.”
Over the past quarter-century, Oregon State’s offenses have featured a remarkable array of tailbacks ranging from Ken Simonton to Yvenson Bernard to Jacquizz Rodgers to Ryan Nall to Jermar Jefferson to Damien Martinez.
All except Bernard — and Martinez, currently a sophomore at OSU — played in the NFL. None had near the professional career of Jackson, who rushed for 11,438 yards and 69 touchdowns and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection during a stellar 12-year NFL run.
Jackson stands 18th on the NFL career rushing list. Of those ahead of him, all but Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson — who retired after the 2020 and ’21 seasons, respectively, and Fred Taylor — are in the NFL Hall of Fame. Gore and Peterson are sure to make it, and Jackson might as well.
For now, though, let’s focus on Jackson’s three years at Oregon State from 2001-03, a flash of brilliance the likes of which Beaver Nation has not seen before or since. Then-coach Dennis Erickson signed Jackson out of Eldorado High.
“I just think back to the day I accepted the scholarship offer,” Jackson says. “You hope to have a wonderful career, that you’re able to have individual success and win a lot of games and play in bowl games and eventually get to the Rose Bowl. We didn’t get to the Rose Bowl, but I checked a lot of those boxes.
Steven Jackson was a terror at tailback for Oregon State in the early 2000s, compiling two of the greatest rushing seasons in school history (courtesy OSU sports communications)
“When I was recruited by Coach Erickson, he made no promises. He said, ‘Kid, you have talent and some promise. I think you fit in with us. We’re blue-collar, hard-working guys.’ And that turned out to be true to form. That’s what we embodied while I was at Oregon State.”
Despite backing up Simonton as a freshman and coming out to the NFL after his junior year, Jackson ranks fourth on the school career rushing list with 3,625 yards, behind only Simonton (5,044 from 1998-2001), Rodgers (3,877 from 2008-10) and Bernard (3,862 from 2004-07). Like Rodgers, a healthy Jackson would likely have become the career leader had he played his senior year.
And he says that was closer to happening than one might have thought.
In his final appearance as a Beaver, on Dec. 24, 2003, Jackson carried the ball 28 times for 149 yards and four touchdowns and caught five passes for 61 yards and another score in a 55-14 rout of New Mexico in the Las Vegas Bowl. That may have tipped the scales. In the post-game press conference, with members of his family in attendance, Steven announced he would be leaving for the NFL.
“If you have to go, that’s the way you hope to go out,” Jackson says today.
But while the shelf life of an NFL running back can be short, and though the 6-3, 235-pound Jackson was physically ready for the pounding of the pro game, he says he had mixed emotions about leaving.
“Part of me wanted to come back for my senior year and play with that group I was recruited with,” Jackson says. “So there was that. Or do you take advantage of that kind of performance as a springboard to going to the NFL?
“Career-wise, (the decision to go to the NFL) was easy. But with the affinity I had for my situation at Oregon State — for my teammates, for the university and for the community — it was hard. I grew up as a young man in Corvallis. They modeled me and developed me. If I was a gift to Oregon State, they were also a gift to me. It was really tough because of the bond.”
Jackson holds the OSU school single-season record of 1,690 yards as a sophomore in 2002, and his junior season (1,545) ranks third on the list. He owns three of the nine most productive single games in program history as well — 239, 230 and 227. Jackson is third in career rushing touchdowns with 39 and owns a share of the single-game record with four TDs.
There is another Jackson coming up in the ranks. Skyler, at 17 the oldest of four children to Steven and wife Asia, is a 6-foot, 205-pound junior running back/receiver at Coronado High of Henderson, which last week lost in the state semifinals to Bishop Gorman.
“Sky is starting to put it together,” his father says. “I’m impressed. He didn’t play football until his freshman year. We postponed his development. I wanted to be careful. But in these three years, he is starting to learn the game and becoming passionate about it. He likes being a dual threat, running and catching the football. His thinking is, ‘I can run routes, too; I’m not just like my dad.’ It’s been fun to see.”
Since retirement as a player in 2015, Steven has not let grass grow beneath his feet.
He established the Steven Jackson Foundation as a player, creating opportunities and promoting strong educational values for youth. He owns a lifestyle clothing brand, Original Brand Style (OBS). Jackson, too, is co-founder of “The Original Barber School,” which provides education in the art of barbering.
“We are helping people find their career path,” he says. “It’s been truly a blessing.”
Jackson has given back to his alma mater. He signed Martinez to an NIL deal as an ambassador for OBS. Steven served a term as a board member for the OSU Foundation. He currently is ambassador for Dam Nation, the school’s preferred NIL collective.
Steven serves as an ambassador for Dam Nation, Oregon State’s NIL collective (courtesy Dam Nation)
Steven was in Boulder for Oregon State’s 26-19 victory over Colorado last weekend. How closely does he follow Beaver football these days?
“Like a hawk,” he says with a laugh. “I follow it pretty close.”
Jackson played a season with Jonathan Smith, who was also a grad assistant for the Beavers for Steven’s final two seasons. And Jackson played two years with defensive coordinator Trent Bray in Corvallis.
“I’m impressed with what Coach Smith is doing,” Jackson says. “Trent’s defense looks amazing. The Pro-style offense is electrifying. We groom young men to be ready for the next level. I also know the love the coaches have for their players. They truly want to help them grow and become good people in society. I love the foundation of the program. I love everything Jonathan has created there and for the tradition to carry on.”
Things will change considerably with the demise of the Pac-12 after this season, but Jackson says he likes the way Oregon State (along with Washington State) has handled its situation.
“I’m very disappointed in the other 10 universities,” he says. “I’m very proud of what we are doing. We are not taking our football and walking away. We’re putting flight to it — keeping the Pac-12 brand and taking a role of leadership. We have taken a stand that I am hoping will help us wind up in a strong position. I’m proud of what Scott (Barnes, the AD), as well as the president (Jayathi Murthy), are doing.”
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