Over seven seasons as a Chicago Bears security, Eddie Jackson has seen just a little little bit of every little thing. Jackson has gained a division championship and been to the playoffs twice. He has been a part of three dropping seasons and a 14-game dropping skid.
He noticed the GM who drafted him (Ryan Pace) fired in January 2021 and is now enjoying for his third head coach in Matt Eberflus and his fifth place coach in Andre Curtis.
Jackson was an All-Pro in 2018 and named to the Pro Bowl in two consecutive seasons. He has additionally battled accidents and inconsistency and went two full seasons with out an interception.
His expertise and perspective have remained beneficial inside Halas Hall and his voice has all the time resonated, establishing him as a crew chief who has been prepared to talk up through the powerful instances as a lot as he has been talkative through the crew’s profitable surges.
On Thursday, Jackson was honored at Halas Hall because the 2023 recipient of the Jeff Dickerson Good Guy Award, an honor introduced yearly by the Chicago chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association to acknowledge a member of the Bears group who has been courteous, skilled and open to the media.
“As players,” Jackson advised a room of assembled reporters, “we understand you all have jobs to do. So if we can help that and keep that in a respectful manner, we’re here for it.”
The Good Guy Award was renamed in 2022 to honor longtime ESPN Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson, who was recognized by friends, gamers, coaches and executives alike as an easygoing and hardworking reporter with a welcoming demeanor and a kindhearted spirit. Dickerson died on Dec. 28, 2021, of colon most cancers. He was 43.
Dickerson’s mother and father, George and Sandy, have been readily available at Halas Hall on Thursday and Jackson addressed them when receiving his honor.
“The times I met your son, it was always a great conversation,” he stated. “He was a very humble, nice, respectful guy. You guys did a fine job raising him. So I’m honored to accept this award.”
Previous Good Guy Award winners have included Cole Kmet (2022), Robert Quinn and Tashaun Gipson (2021), Mitch Trubisky (2020), Allen Robinson (2019), Prince Amukamara (2018), Zach Miller (2017), Tracy Porter (2016), Ryan Mundy (2015), Matt Slauson (2014) and Josh McCown (2013).
Jackson, one of many veteran leaders of a quickly enhancing protection, has retained a big presence contained in the Bears locker room and was acknowledged formally Thursday for his willingness to persistently make himself out there plus his pure engagement with reporters, whether or not it’s talking on crew issues, soccer questions or locker room small discuss.
“I feel like it’s needed,” Jackson stated. “Especially when you have the younger guys, the guys in the locker room who look at you as a leader. I feel like your response is held to a higher standard than someone else’s. So I feel like it was always meant for me to speak.”
With his future in Chicago in query past this season, Jackson was requested Thursday if he had mirrored on the chance that Sunday’s recreation towards the Atlanta Falcons may very well be his final time enjoying at Soldier Field as a Bear.
“Not really,” Jackson stated. “I’m dwelling within the second, man. I’m appreciating the blokes and simply being round Tremaine (Edmunds) and TJ (Edwards), D-Walk (DeMarcus Walker) and all the brand new guys and new faces on this crew and (valuing) all these relationships we’ve constructed inside this yr. It’s loopy. So I haven’t actually considered that.
“Lord willing, I hope I’m here next year. But God always has a plan. So I feel like I’ll always land on my feet. I hope it’s here. I know how it works in the business. I wish I could be here my whole entire career. But we know how this thing works. So you have to live in the moment. I’m guaranteed two more games as a Chicago Bear. So I’m going to live in that moment and appreciate that moment.”
Jackson referred to as this the craziest of his seven seasons with the Bears, a yr that included an 0-4 begin; the abrupt September resignation of defensive coordinator Alan Williams for conduct-related points; the October firing of operating backs coach David Walker; a number of high-profile in-season trades; and, just lately, a resurgence for the protection.
“When you go through troubles, trials, tribulations in life,” Jackson stated, “at the end of that tunnel there is always light. I feel like there is something special ahead with this team, man.”
Jackson hopes to be a part of that and emphasised the appreciation he has for his time with the Bears.
“It means everything,” he stated.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com