Tryouts Named for Edwin Jackson

Earlier this year, the walk-on tryouts for Georgia Southern football were named in honor of former player and NFL starter Edwin Jackson.  Jackson was killed on Feb. 4, along with Uber driver Jeffrey Monroe, when they were struck along the side of Interstate 70 in Indiana by a suspected drunken driver.

“In memory of Edwin Jackson, we wanted to take the first step in honoring him by naming our walk-on tryouts after him,” Georgia Southern head coach Chad Lunsford said. “Edwin went down the hardest path possible here at Southern to earn some unbelievable results. He went from a walk-on tryout participant, to a spot on the team, to playing time, to a starter and leader and finally, a captain and Sun Belt champion.”

Jackson was a star athlete at Westlake High School in Atlanta and earned his spot on the Georgia Southern roster his freshman year as walk-on. He lead the team in tackles his final two years, and was named First-Team All-Sun Belt his senior season. In 48 career games, Jackson tallied 218 tackles.

He went unselected in the 2015 NFL Draft, but was picked up by the Indianapolis Colts, won a spot on the roster for the 2016 season, was a starting inside linebacker for the last half of the season, finishing the year with 66 tackles.