[1] He played college football as a wide receiver for the California Golden Bears, where he was recognized as a two-time, first-team All-American in 2006 and 2007.

He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft, and also played for the Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, and Baltimore Ravens.

He was named the 2004 Glenn Davis Award winner by the Los Angeles Times as Southern California's player of the year.

[4] He also ran track and played baseball and was scouted by both the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies in his senior year.

Jackson caught 60 passes for 1,075 yards for 15 touchdowns his senior year, leading the Jackrabbits to a CIF Southern Section championship.

[6] He was pressed into service last minute as a defensive back in the section title game against Los Alamitos High School, responding with two interceptions, one which he returned 68 yards for a touchdown to help fuel Long Beach Poly's 21–6 victory.

[5] Coming into his sophomore year with high expectations, Jackson displayed more of his talent and playmaking ability, tallying 1,060 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

During the pre-draft period, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice was quoted saying that Jackson "has all the talent in the world.

[18] He performed well in positional drills, running routes fluidly, and catching passes very well displaying his well-known agility and quickness.

After the Eagles' roster was cut to its maximum 53-man limit for the season, he was listed as the starting punt returner and as a second-string wide receiver.

Due to injuries sustained by Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown, Jackson was the first rookie to start opening day for head coach Andy Reid.

Jackson scored his first rushing touchdown on November 9 on a direct snap in the wildcat formation with a nine-yard run against the New York Giants.

[26] A rematch against the Giants on December 7 which resulted in a 20–14 upset of the defending Super Bowl champions marked the first time in the season that Jackson did not have a reception.

[37] In a Week 11 matchup on Sunday Night Football against the Chicago Bears, Jackson caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles won a close game, 24–20.

On November 29 against the Redskins, Jackson had to leave the game after sustaining a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit by linebacker London Fletcher.

The game would also put him at eight touchdowns of over 50 yards in a single season, tying an NFL record shared only by Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch[39] and Devin Hester.

[40] The following week against the San Francisco 49ers, Jackson went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with 140 receiving yards, including a 19-yard touchdown reception as the Eagles clinched a playoff berth.

[43] In a rematch the following week on January 3, 2010, against the Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Game, he was held by Dallas to three catches for 14 yards, including a six-yard touchdown pass in the 34–14 loss.

[52] During the game, he sustained a severe concussion after a collision with Atlanta cornerback Dunta Robinson, with both players assisted from the field.

[57] On December 19, 2010, Jackson returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown to lead the Eagles to a win against the New York Giants in the final 14 seconds of the game.

[59] On July 28, 2011, Jackson failed to report to Eagles' training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as required in his contract.

[63] In a November 27 loss to the New England Patriots, he was benched for the entire fourth quarter after a performance that included drops of two potential touchdown passes.

[80] The jersey that Jackson wore in that game would be featured at the Pro Football Hall of Fame after he became the third player in NFL history to record an 80-yard touchdown both for and against a team.

[82] Jackson broke 100-yards receiving in six games that season, and ended with 56 receptions for a team-leading 1,169 and six touchdowns, and led the NFL for the second time in his career with 20.9 yards per catch.

[84] On August 6, Jackson suffered a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for most of pre-season training, and then injured a hamstring in the first quarter of the season opener against Miami.

In Week 4, he was fined for wearing police caution tape on his shoes to protest the role of race in the American criminal justice system.

[98] On September 9, 2018, Jackson caught five passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the season-opening 48–40 win over defending NFC South champions New Orleans Saints.

Jackson has also received media attention for plays that critics say show poor judgement on his part, and in particular, multiple premature celebrations which have resulted in lost touchdowns.

[134] In the movie Silver Linings Playbook, an otherwise-conservative psychotherapist encourages the protagonist (played by Bradley Cooper) to wear Jackson's jersey.

[135] In July 2020, Jackson posted an Instagram story featuring a quote falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler, espousing Black Hebrew Israelite ideology, that read: "because the white Jews knows [sic] that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas [sic] secret the Jews will blackmail America.