Jackson looks to make impact coming back from injury

AMES — Iowa State wide receiver Daniel Jackson can’t seem to catch a break unless it’s a bad one.

He survived a harrowing car crash that cost him his senior season of high school football. He’s been injured multiple times as a Cyclone.

ISU head coach Matt Campbell dubbed Jackson as “one of the guys who epitomizes (the) program” at last season’s media day — only to see the Cibolo, Texas, native suffer a season-ending lower leg injury in practice about a week later.

So fate may be trying to tell Jackson something. Destiny could be sending him some not-so-subtle hints.

But Jackson’s not buying any of it.

As long as he can run, lift, grab and jump, his football dreams remain alive — and after a long rehabilitation process, he finally caught a good break in the form of two big receptions on the first two days of his sixth and final fall camp.

“I went to the sideline after the first catch and I was like, ‘Dang, there’s no other feeling like that,’” said Jackson, whose knock-on-wood healthy sixth season could help shore up a promising but green Cyclones receivers room. “There’s no other feeling like being back on the field and playing; lining up in front of a man (who) wants to beat you, and beating him.”

Jackson laughs heartily after saying those words. It’s a genuine giggle. Cathartic. A moment of mirth that acknowledges he’s on his last of many health-based second chances.

“I’m human,” Jackson said. “So sometimes you get those moments, like, ‘Should I really be playing, or is this really for me?’ But then you wake up in the morning and you go into work, and all the guys are around you, and they lift you up, and you go out there, and make a good play — you kind of got it all back. It’s good days, bad days, but at the end of the day, as long as I can play, man, I’m gonna play.”

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Jackson hopes to be a key piece of a wide-ranging pass-catching puzzle tasked with replacing some of the massive production current Houston Texans Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins proved the Cyclones with last season. ISU also added dynamic transfer receivers Xavier Townsend (UCF) and Chase Sowell (East Carolina) to augment a largely unproven room that includes Brett Eskildsen, Carson Brown and Dom Overby — all of whom impressed coaches last season.

“There’s a lot of character in the room,” Sowell said. “And there (are) a lot of different pieces, you know, a lot of different tools to fit in the toolbox.”

So how does Jackson help make everything fit? Let former receiver and converted cornerback Beni Ngoyi explain.

“He’s a ball player,” Ngoyi said. “That’s all I can say. He’s a ball player.”

And it’s not like Jackson hasn’t had big moments or big games. His true splash came during a mostly healthy 2023 season when he caught six passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-27 win over Oklahoma State. But sitting out all of last season’s string of program firsts — from a 7-0 start to 11 overall wins — crystallized Jackson’s resolve to return.

And not just to be on the team, but to be that true ball player, running routes and making plays and laughing all the way.

“It hasn’t been easy but I want to finish my career on the field,” he said. “And If I’ve got years left to play, I’m gonna play ’em. That’s just the type of guy I am, so I’m excited.”

Which takes us back to those early clutch catches in fall camp. As thrilled as Jackson was to make them, his teammates seemed even more stoked to see him out there merely competing again.

That’s because they were — and Campbell took notice.

“You had all our sidelines erupt,” said Campbell, who seeks to lead ISU to its eighth winning season in his 10 years. “For that kid to go down that dark, lonely road and come back the way he has, it’s been really, really impressive.”

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