100-Day Bulldog Countdown: 61 Days - Former No. 61 Gabe Jackson

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we look back at a Mississippi success story and one of the Bulldogs’ best blockers in the last decade.

100-Day Bulldog Countdown: 61 Days – Former No. 61 Gabe Jackson

Amite County and Liberty, Miss., is most famous for being known for one of the all-time great comedians in America in Jerry Clower. Before Clower told jokes for a living, though, he was a MSU Bulldog football player.

While Clower’s legend will always live on around the south, in Mississippi and in Amite County, another former Bulldog football player is putting the county on the map. Jackson became one of the Las Vegas Raiders and Seattle Seahawks most reliable offensive linemen, much in the way that he was for the Bulldogs just a few years ago. But he wasn’t always seen as an NFL blocker. In fact, not many people wanted his services out of high school.

When Dan Mullen arrived to Starkville he had to make a splash in his first recruiting class. The Bulldogs had a solid group of players already committed and Mullen and his staff just had to close them out and pull a few more into the boat. Jackson was one of the players that had been committed to Sylvester Croom in what was becoming the coach’s best class since he had been in Starkville. While the group was very good, Jackson wasn’t one of those that was highly touted.

Only MSU and Southern Miss had offered the Amite County product. Scout.com had Jackson ranked the third best lineman in the state of Mississippi and he wasn’t even considered for the Clarion Ledger’s Dandy Dozen. Even so, he was going to work his way into the conversation as one of the best players in that highly productive class before it was all said and done.

Jackson made his first appearance for the Bulldogs in 2010 after redshirting his freshman year. The redshirt turned out to be perfect for the raw prospect as it gave him a year to get his body ready. He would earn SEC All-Freshman honors right away as he started at left guard. As a sophomore he was Second-Team All-SEC with 13 more starts at left guard.

People were beginning to take notice of Jackson’s prowess on the offensive line. As a junior, he continued his ascent as he was named Second-Team All-American and was again a first-team All-SEC member after starting all 13 games again. He didn’t give up a single sack as a junior and he began to pick up steam as a player that could come out of school early and be drafted. After getting feedback, he decided another year on campus was best.

It turned out to be the right decision for Jackson as he became one of the top offensive lineman in the country. Jackson was named a first-team All-American as a senior and won the Conerly Trophy for the top player in the state of Mississippi as well as the inaugural Kent Hull Trophy for the state’s best offensive lineman. He earned three SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week awards and he went through his second-straight year without a sack surrendered.

The most impressive thing for Jackson is he started every single game of his career, a feat that’s rarely done in college football. NFL teams took notice of his hard work, determination and consistency and heh was invited to the NFL combine.

Ultimately, Jackson would be drafted by the Raiders in the third round in 2014. It was a pick that appears to have been a major win for the Raiders. For seven years, Jackson was a staple of the offensive line and an anchor up front.

Jackson dealt with injuries in 2018 and 2019 with a torn pectoral muscle and a broken elbow, but he came back late in the year and played in 11 games to get himself back on track and ready for a return to form in 2020.

After getting traded to the Seahawks in 2021, he started every game but one at guard. He started in all 15 games he played for the Seahawks in 2022 as he was on the same offensive line as another former Bulldog in Charles Cross.  

After ending his tenure with the Seahawks in 2022, Jackson was picked up by the Carolina Panthers for the practice squad and that’s where he would end his career. Jackson played in 136 career games with 132 starts and has now settled back in the Golden Triangle area. He left his mark on the game of football at State and in the NFL and will go down as one of the greats in Maroon and White.