Northwestern football Media Day is coming next week, with Big Ten Media Days already behind us. Coming off a very pleasantly surprising 10 win season, with an important core of key players returning, hopes should be high in 2016, right?
Lindy’s names “Justin Jackson the ball-carrier” as the preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and they also include him on the preseason all-conference team alongside linebacker Anthony Walker. The junior LB is making preseason All-American teams everywhere and Lindy’s ranks Walker 6th on their list of top NFL talent in the Big Ten.
Jackson is nicknamed “bread and butter” amongst his teammates because that’s exactly what he is to this team. Walker is nicknamed “The Franchise.”
“Justin Jackson the ball-carrier” is the back’s nickname on campus, as people emulate the Ryan Field public address announcer call. It’s the phrase that game attendees often hear incessantly during games.
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/justin-jackson-b1g-media-day
Above you’ll find the audio of Justin Jackson during B1G Media Days on the 1 on 1 podiums: (towards the beginning of the file, he answers a question about the “Justin Jackson the ball carrier” phenomenon, and having fun with it)
Thus, Jackson has two nicknames, just like his inspiration Deion Sanders who was both “Prime Time” and “Neon Deion.”
This year, Northwestern football has two legitimate star players with Walker and Jackson. Last year’s team was just about the quietest 10-win high major conference team, in a big market that you’ll ever find.
New Year’s Day bowls and double digit wins don’t come along very often in Evanston, so the lack of buzz for this group last year was disappointing. Attendance, ratings, etc. would have all been higher if they had more explosion plays and star power. At 4.5 yards per play, their offense was dead last in the Big Ten.
In 2016, they must do more than just win, they have to win with panache and style.
Justin Jackson embraces the idea of being the workhorse, the feature back, the go to guy.
“I love it, ever since I was younger, I always got in this groove around 15-20 carries, then I really get in this zone, this rhythm.”
“And I’m helping my team, whatever they need from me, I’ll do.”
Jackson’s workload, and his enthusiastic attitude for it, is reminiscent of this old NFL Films poetry, narrated by “the voice of God” John Focedna below:
“Carrying the ball 20 times a game requires power and valor, not niftiness. The water bug and whip it backs rarely survive the whail and howl of the banshee. Every team needs a brahma bull to power through the stacked defenses in the pros. They must meld the buck of a billy-goat, with the sudden surge of a sprint.”
“He does not move with polish or slickness. His method is not Grand Prix, but demolition derby.”
It doesn’t full apply to Justin Jackson in every way, but you get the idea. The passage itself, obviously, is from a less politically correct time.
Looking at the 2016 identity of Northwestern football, and where Jackson fits. This Q&A from B1G Media Day says it all:
Q. Last year’s team had some similarities to one of the opponents in your days that they had a very strong central back, kind of carrying the load. Remember Robert Holcombe and the Illini in ’95. Do you see Holcombe in Justin Jackson or is there any other back that you played against in the Big Ten that Jackson kind of reminds you of, like a throw back to those days, the black and blue division of the Big Ten?
COACH FITZGERALD: “When I look at J.J. he reminds me a lot — different styles a little bit, but just in my time at Northwestern, some of our backs. Similar to Tyrell Sutton with his vision. And Noah Herron, how Noah was a big back, but didn’t seem he really got hit that hard. Was always able to slip tackles.
And maybe Jason Wright with his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. So maybe a combination of all three of those guys is kind of what I see in J.J. — very talented player from a standpoint of being able to do everything. Just not a first-down back or third-down back. He’s a complete back. Still has room for improvement in his game.”
“But a young man that we’ve got to have more balance offensively to get people out of the box. I think most games we saw eight, nine guys in the box and we’ve got to be able to throw it more efficiently to be able to loosen some people up to respect our passing game to be quite frankly more explosive offensively this year.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.