Multi-sport talent Colby Jackson wins our most prestigious award
Athlete of the Year Multi-sport talent Colby Jackson wins our most prestigious award Last year Colby Jackson ran for 2,597 yards and 42 TDs, leading his Crusaders to 10 wins.
If there’s a single word that best describes a BFS High School Athlete of the Year, it’s balance. Yes, there are many great athletes in high schools across the country – thousand-yard rushers and buzzer-beater play-makers. Yes, there are many great students who excel academically, with 4.00 GPAs and beyond. And there are many student-athletes who give back to the community and have set the highest standards in the way they live and treat other people. But to earn BFS’s most prestigious honor, a student-athlete has to excel in all these areas. One young man who has achieved such balance in his life is Colby Jackson.
A senior at Trinity Christian School in Dublin, Georgia, Jackson is an amazing athlete whose skills as a linebacker and running back helped his football team win 10 games last season and a state championship the MARCH/APRIL 2008 Small-Town Roots Colby’s mother, Melanie, says that Trinity Christian High School is located “right in the middle of the state year before. With a 4.52 in the forty and a 315-pound power clean, this 225-pound senior ran for 2,597 yards and 42 TDs with only one fumble. On defense, Jackson had 56 solo tackles, 36 assists, three fumble recoveries and one interception. There’s more.
Jackson also won state titles this year in the shot put and 400 meters, and he contributed valuable team points in the 100 meters and the 4x100-meter relay. And then there was wrestling. Although he didn’t take up wrestling until high school, Jackson won the state championships as a sophomore (at 189 pounds) and again as a junior (at 215 pounds). When asked if there was any crossover from wrestling to football, Jackson mentions that wrestling improved his balance, kept his conditioning high and improved his focus. “In wrestling it’s just you and the other guy, so it teaches you how to concentrate.”
Colby accepting his BFS statue from head football coach Steve Price. of Georgia,” so the humidity can be rather harsh. But she adds that there is a great small-town atmosphere and lots of community support for local high school athletic programs. Apparently, this combination has been perfect for developing the talents of her son. “Colby was always athletic, but noth- Although he didn’t take up the sport until the ninth grade, Colby won two state championships in wrestling. Last year he also won the state championships in the 400 meters and the shot put.
A young Colby Jackson. ing to the point where he is now – lots of hard work and sheer determination have gotten Colby to where he is now.” Jackson’s athletic career started in the fourth grade with baseball and football. He added track in the eighth grade, at which time he started using the BFS program, and then added wrestling in high school. And at Trinity Christian, Jackson found himself in a great school to be an athlete. Featured in the May/June 2005 issue of BFS, Trinity has earned success not just in football but also as a unified school thanks to a great coaching staff that includes BFS Clinician Steve Price, who serves as Trinity christian’s head football coach.
As with all great high school athletes, Jackson’s accomplishments on the gridiron have attracted the attention of college scouts. While he visited and was offered scholarships at such outstanding schools as the University of Miami Colby at home with his mother, Melanie, and stepfather, Rusty. and the Air Force Academy, Jackson decided the best place for him was close to home at North Carolina State. “NC State has a wonderful atmosphere, it’s a beautiful area, and the school has a great academic program,” says Melanie. “After lots of consideration Colby felt, in his heart, that this was where he was supposed to be.”
Jackson says, “Football is my life – that’s what I grew up liking and is what I could always do better.” He believes he can add another 25 pounds of muscle in college, but don’t ask him to predict what position he thinks his college coaches will choose for him. “That’s a tough one – I have good instincts for defense, but I like running the ball too.” As for his role models, he says he tries to run with power like Earl Campbell and stay on his feet like Walter Payton. “I pride myself on MARCH/APRIL 2008 With a 4.52 in the forty and a 315-pound power clean, this 225-pound senior ran for 2,597 yards and 42 TDs with only one fumble. ing muscle – it focuses on building strength, speed and agility.
If you’re going to play football, you don’t want to be big and bulky and not be able to move.” In his spare time Jackson likes to fish, listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd and enjoy other things popular among young men from the country. Like many of his fellow athletes at Trinity Christian, Jackson makes time to help those less fortunate than him. Last year, for example, Jackson did volunteer work at a local nursing home and a women’s shelter. “I washed wheelchairs, picked up trash, whatever needed to be done.” This young man is a true 11 who has learned how to achieve ideal balance in life. Congratulations to Colby Jackson, 2008 BFS Male High School Athlete of the Year.
being a runner who is tough to take down,” says Jackson. Having been on the BFS program for five years, primarily under the direction of Coach Price, Jackson has put up some impressive numbers in the weightroom that include a 335-pound bench and a 535-pound squat. Asked about his success with BFS, Jackson replies, “It’s not like a regular workout, as it doesn’t focus on just build- A terror on defense, Colby will be attending North Carolina State this fall on a football scholarship.
Perform all core lifts in one station From Now With Chrome Guides and Protective Stripping on all Bar Contact Points and Black Powder Coat Paint STOCK VERSION Built to last: Massive 7-gauge steel tubing. Item #320462
From BFS Magazine — March/April 2008. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
