Tom Jackson spent 14 years in the NFL. He more than doubled that at ESPN.
After 29 years, Jackson is retiring. ESPN announced Jackson’s decision on Wednesday.
“I have been blessed in my adult life to work for two companies, the Denver Broncos and ESPN, to do two things that I love -- play football and talk about football,” Jackson said. “Having joined in the early stages of ESPN and remained with the same company for 29 years is especially gratifying. The friendships made are too numerous to mention but I know that many of them will last a lifetime. I also want to thank all the fans who supported me over the years and made my job so enjoyable. This move just comes at a time when the priority of my life is spending time with my family.”
Jackson went straight from the Broncos to ESPN, joining the network the first year that it acquired NFL broadcast rights, with half of the Sunday night schedule. In the days before YouTube and cell phone devices, ESPN’s prime-time highlight show was appointment viewing for ardent NFL fans, with Berman, Jackson, and Pete Axthelm providing the kind of in-depth footage and discussion on NFL Sundays that simply otherwise didn’t exist.
Speaking of YouTube, here’s some stuff from what was Jackson’s first regular-season Sunday night with ESPN, back in 1987.
Anyone who appears on TV will have detractors. Jackson is one of the few who shouldn’t. He was solid, professional, and measured. And he endured in an industry where former players have a finite shelf life, which expires if they don’t quickly evolve from guys who can tell stories about their own experiences and relationships into those who can apply their knowledge and perspective to players and coaches they’ve never worked with, played against, or perhaps even met.
Kudos to Jackson on living a pair of American dreams, and all the best to him moving forward.
