My All Star Family

As I sat there this morning watching the usual ESPN programming of Sportscenter about 12 times in a row, they played a vignette of NFL players who are going to be free agents this season. Two out of the top five free agents they talked about had the last name of Jackson. So it got me thinking... I knew there were a lot of players in sports with my last name, but how many? Well instead of actually counting how many, I decided to make an all star starting lineup for each sport from players with my last name. You would think this would be easy, but seriously it wasn't... I studied every player with my last name and their position. The players could be from present day players of past. And I chose the best possible players for their position.

I think I will start with baseball. You would think that there were many players with the last name of Jackson in the over 100 years of the sport, but you would be mistaken. In fact, only about 35 players with that last name have ever made the majors. The rest were career minor leaguers. So here is my starting lineup with that minimal talent to work with...

MLB

SP- Larry Jackson- 194 wins and 183 losses with a career 3.40 ERA with the Cardinals, Cubs, and Phillies.

C- Me- Unbelievably there has never ever been a major league catcher by the name of Jackson. I was   stunned. So being that I got a catchers glove recently, I will take the reigns. Unfortunately for my bad knees...

1B- Connor Jackson- This honestly was my best option. A career .271 hitter with 52 homers on the Diamondbacks, A's, and Bo Sox.

2B- Damian Jackson- A journeyman with a career .243 batting average with 32 homers on nine teams. My best choice... I swear

3B- Randy Jackson- This guy had a career .261 average in ten seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers, and Indians. He also clubbed 103 homers in that span.

SS- Travis Jackson- Finally an alright player. Hell, a GREAT player. This hall of famer had a career .291 average with 1,768 hits. He only hit 135 homers but come on, he is a short stop. He also played his whole career with the Giants.

LF- Shoeless Joe Jackson- This great player had a unreal career .356 average with 1772 hits and 54 homers in the dead ball era. But even more impressive, 202 steals and .423 on base percentage.

CF- Bo Jackson- This duel sport all star only played eight seasons, but had a .250 average with 141 dingers and nearly 600 hits with three teams.

RF- Reggie Jackson- Another great hall of fame player who would be in the cleanup spot on my lineup. Mr.October had a career .262 average with a whopping 563 homers. He has an MVP award, a couple silver sluggers, and a handful of all star appearances under his belt as well.

That is my starting nine for my baseball team. Next...

NBA

Up next is NBA. Now, you would probably think that since Jackson is mainly an African American name... you racist... that there would be many people who have played under it. You are wrong. In fact,there has never been a freaking center in the NBA by that name. With that said, here is my starting five...

PG- Mark Jackson- A great pass first guard who averaged 8 assists per game. He also averaged 9.6 points per game and about one steal as well. A former all star and also won rookie of the year honors in 88'. He also played for nine NBA franchises.

SG- Bobby Jackson- This tiny man played for four NBA franchises in his career, most notably coming off the bench for those successful Sacramento Kings teams. He averaged 9.7 ppg in his eight year career.

SF- Stephen Jackson- Stephen has had a very productive career thus far averaging 16.3 ppg, 4 rpg, and playing for six NBA franchises. He is currently playing in Charlotte.

PF- Jim Jackson- This dude is the definition of journeyman, playing for 12 NBA teams in his 14 year career. Even though he played for so many teams, he still averaged 14.3 ppg. He is also NOT a power forward, but literally my only option being that he is 6ft 6in.

C- Darnell Jackson- The tallest possible option for center in the realm of players named Jackson. He is currently playing for the Sacramento Kings. He only averages 2.2 ppg and sucks. But, he is 6ft 9in tall.

There is my starting five in the NBA. Not too bad... Just wait till I get to this next category.

NHL

Let's be serious here... have you ever heard of anyone in the NHL named Jackson? Yeah, me neither.

G- Percy Jackson- The guy literally played seven games from the years 1931-1936. He played for the Rangers, Americans, and Bruins.

C- Art Jackson- This guy actually had a pretty good NHL career. Playing for the Maple Leafes, Bruins, and Americans from 1931-1939. He scored 123 goals, had 178 assists and 144 penalty minutes.

RW- Harvey Jackson- Harvey, or Busher as everyone called him, also played for the Maple Leafes, Americans, and Bruins. He played from 1929-1944 scoring 241 goals, 234 assists, and 437 penalty minutes.

LW- Jim Jackson- Jim didn't really have a productive career for the Flames and the Sabres. He ended his four year career scoring 17 goals, 30 assists, and 20 penalty minutes.

D- Don and Harold Jackson- The starting two defensemen had very productive careers. Don played ten seasons for the Stars, Oilers, and Rangers. He scored 16 goals, 52 assists, and had 640 penalty minutes. Harold played for the Red Wings and the Hawks from 1936-1947. He had 17 goals, 34 assists, and 208 penalty minutes.

  

Wow, enthralling stuff. Now finally we have...

NFL

Just to get one thing straight... Instead of listing EVERY SINGLE POSITION, I am just going to do the offense. I know, people are going to yell at me for hating on the defense, but honestly there weren't many players. There also was not one kicker to choose from. So I had to limit it.

QB- Tarvaris Jackson- This seriously was my best pick. But he has had an okay career thus far. On two teams in five years, he has 38 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. Throw in five rushing touchdowns on to that total makes the numbers a bit more managable, but he has an awful QB rating of 77.7.

RB- Earnest Jackson- A mediocre career for the Chargers, Eagles, and Steelers, he played from 1983-1988. He had a total of 4,167 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also made two pro bowls.



WR- Harold Jackson- Having a hugely productive career, he played from 1968-1987 for six teams. His career totals include 579 receptions, 10,372 yards, and 76 touchdowns. An all-pro, a five time pro bowler, and lead the league multiple times in multiple categories, he is arguably the best player on my list.

TE- Keith Jackson- The final player on my list played for three teams from 1988-1996. He had a very productive career with 441 receptions, 5,283 yards, and 49 touchdowns. A six time pro bowler, a three time all pro, and a Super Bowl champion.

Now what have we learned from all of this? A lot of people by the name of Jackson have played in the Philadelphia area, there has never been a man by the name of Jackson to play catcher, and there aren't many good athletes with my last name. Makes me wish all the more I would have stuck to the whole athletics thing in my high school career. Gotta bring this proud name back to prominence. I mean seriously... Tarvaris and Percy Jackson? Anyways... I have always wanted to do this, now I have, and I hope you have enjoyed it.