Known as "Jacko", Jackson's colourful and enigmatic personality often resulted in clashes with officials and teammates, which tended to overshadow the fact that he was also a capable full forward.
Following his football career, Jackson became notable for several television appearances, including commercials for Jenny Craig, Energizer and Nutri-Grain, along with several feature films.
Coach Mal Brown employed Jackson as a forward to protect Ray Bauskis, a skilful but lightweight full-forward.
[7] It was later revealed that, among other things, he had played a dangerous prank on club legend Trevor Barker by placing a brick behind the brake pedal in his car.
But after losing to Fitzroy in Round 11 they would spend the remainder of the season hovering just outside the Top Five, eventually finishing sixth on the ladder.
Jackson gained a controversial reputation for his on-field antics, and was regularly reported: twice at Melbourne and four times at Geelong, including an eight match suspension following a fight against Hawthorn.
[1] An autobiography of Jackson's football career was published in 1986 and titled Jacko, Dumb Like a Fox, written with the assistance of Melbourne journalist Jon Anderson.
South Fremantle won its opening three games of the season, but then went on an 18-match losing streak to win the wooden spoon – the club's first since 1972.
After his singing career ended, Jackson began appearing in advertisements, the most successful of which was his role in Energizer battery commercials during the late 1980s and early-mid 1990s.
These commercials were shown extensively in the United States, even though few people knew of Jackson, during a period of high American interest in things Australian in the wake of the Crocodile Dundee films.
This American infatuation with Australian culture is referenced in The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia" (1995), in which Jackson makes a cameo promoting Energizer.
Jackson has appeared in various television sitcoms and movies—one of the most notable being as survival expert "Jetto" in the short-lived American action-adventure series The Highwayman (1988)—as well as being on talkback radio and in various children's programs and talk shows.
Jackson had previously beaten Essendon toughman Ron Andrews in a points decision on 10 December 1984 in a six-round boxing match at the Perth Entertainment Centre.