Word of the death of DeSean Jackson's dad was quietly whispered about around the Eagles Nova Care complex last month. His teammates quietly comforted him as much as possible.
The media had been hands off about it in respect for DeSean and his family. The young wide receiver was trying to deal with it and it wasn't and isn't easy.
He had talked about his dad and his family last year when he was drafted by the Eagles. It didn't take long when talking to DeSean to know that he wasn't like so many other African-American players who had grown without a dad.
He made it a point of letting you know that his dad, Bill Jackson, had been the major influence in his life. That's another reason his death less than a month ago from pancreatic cancer, had hit DeSean so hard.
"Everything about me in sports is credited to him," Jackson said. "Without him I wouldn’t be here. It was a blessing to have a father who did everything like that for me."
It was especially painful to not have him here to enjoy his success now that he has reached the big time, but Jackson refuses to let this keep him down.
"Any time you lose a parent, it's definitely hard," Jackson exclaimed. "The biggest thing is, everything I've done I dedicate to him. I know he wouldn't want me sitting around, you know, pouting and being sad about the situation."
Jackson seems to be using his dad's death as motivation to be the best player he can be rather letting it pull him down.
