Most of you in the sports world have now heard that former Oregon Duck star cornerback and recent draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings, Khyree Jackson, died in a car crash early this morning. He was 24 years old. The crash in Prince George’s County, Maryland, also led to the deaths of Isaiah Hazel and Anthony Lytton, two of Jackson’s high school teammates.
The circumstances and cause(s) of the crash will be revealed in the coming days and weeks. This writer will not speculate on any of that. An incident like this is another example of how an off-the-field tragedy can make wins and losses seem almost meaningless. This is less a eulogy than a story of setbacks, redemption, and unfulfilled dreams.
Who was Khyree Jackson?
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In full disclosure, this writer knew almost nothing about Khyree Jackson until the Vikings took him in the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft. As I later learned, he was viewed as having great potential and as a big part of the solution to Minnesota’s secondary woes. Jackson came back from Herculean problems to being on the threshold of a dream.
He was a crucial part of a state championship team at Marlboro, Maryland’s Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School. However, the road to the NFL was not paved with immediate gold. Jackson would attend four other institutes of higher learning before settling in at Oregon. This path included a suspension by coach Nick Saban at Alabama and a stint working in a grocery store.
Khyree Jackson Gets It Right
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But Khyree Jackson righted his ship and was named to the All-Pac 12 first-team in his one season with the Ducks. And the NFL came knocking. After all of his trials, tribulations, and nomadic ways, his journey to the NFL was almost complete. The pinnacle of this dream was on draft night when he called his mother, Ebbony, from a local shopping mall to share the news that the Vikings had selected him.
All of the years of long drives, entrances, and exits out of schools, as well as the intervention of former NFL cornerback Joey Thomas, Khyree Jackson, and his mother, were about to enjoy the fruits of their toil and labor. He was one of the feel-good stories of the NFL Draft, and his story was likely to inspire other aspiring young football hopefuls throughout the nation.
Tragedy Strikes
But today, the nation received the somber news that this rising star was no longer with us. A pall came over the University of Oregon campus, Minnesota Vikings’ headquarters, Marlboro, Maryland, and the sports world in general. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adolofo-Mensah summed up the loss this way. “I am heartbroken by the loss of Khyree. As we got to know him throughout the pre-draft process, it was clear the goals Khyree wanted to accomplish both professionally and personally. His story was one of resilience.”
The hope is that his story can still be an inspiration to those who struggle on the way to achieving their dreams.
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