He attended Duncan U. Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida, from 1966-1969, and was voted a preseason All-American as a senior middle linebacker.
In 1967, Jackson and Fletcher teammate Tom Sullivan, who went on to play six seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles, were the first African Americans named to The Jacksonville Journal’s All-County football team.
In 1968, he was named Defensive Player of the Year by the Jacksonville Quarterback Club and was a member of the Florida Sportswriters Association Region 1-AA team.
The Spartans, who played as an independent, posted a 10–1 record in 1970[6] and finished the season as the fourth-ranked small college football team in the country.
Jackson never signed with either team, preferring to play out his third-year option with the Argonauts, who finished 6–9–1 and failed to make to the 1974 CFL playoffs.
[7] After his playing days, Jackson worked as a physical education instructor at the Chicago Center for New Direction, a community house for wards of the state.