Iowa State's Daniel Jackson was told he’d never play football after flirting with death

AMES – Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell called it a fascinating story, and it is, the determination and will power one of his players showed while recovering from a car accident so severe that you wonder how he even survived.

Daniel Jackson was at a friend’s home back in Cibolo, Texas, when his phone rang. It was his father, telling Jackson he had a doctor’s appointment. Having just gotten over mono, Jackson had to make sure he was healthy enough to resume playing high school football.

Jackson excused himself from his buddy’s house. He jumped in his Audi A4 and headed to see the doc. An honest-to-goodness flirtation with death was not even on his radar.

“Car crash,” the redshirt junior said after his breakout receiving game Saturday helped Iowa State to a 34-27 Big 12 Conference victory against Oklahoma State at Jack Trice Stadium. “I was driving. I was the only one in the car.”

Going what he estimated to be in the 70 mph range, Jackson rammed into a tow truck. The impact crumpled his car to the point that it resembled a crushed can of soda.

“Fractured my nasal cavity,” he said of the 2020 accident. “I tried to stop, but the brakes locked up. The first doctor I saw said I’d never play football again.”

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Maybe that just made the Steele High School senior more determined to get back on the field, because he certainly played again. Talk about a miracle.

“As the Lord would have it, he was heathy enough to play in the last game of senior season,” said Daniel’s father, Mark, who attended Saturday’s game in Ames.

His son was selected to play in the All-American High School all-star game – but first, Daniel had to play in one of his team's games. That looked next to impossible, considering the mono at the start of the season, and now the wreck.

“It was all in the Lord’s hands,” Mark Jackson told me.

The accident and the recovery

Luckily, Jackson didn’t lose consciousness, because the car caught on fire. One can only imagine what could have happened if he’d been knocked out.

“That right there, staying conscious, probably saved his life,” his father said Sunday while cooking some food for his son before flying back home.

“If you know Daniel, you know he’s a very mellow guy. He called me, and said 'Hey dad, I think I jacked up my car.” He was nice and calm. He said they’re going to take him to a hospital. I said let me know where you’ll be, and we’ll pick you up. My wife said we’re not waiting, so we went the scene of the crash.”

By the time they arrived, they realized this was much worse than a fender bender. The way the windshield was broken out, Mark Jackson wondered how his son’s neck or throat wasn’t cut.

“The Lord didn’t allow that to happen,” Mark said. “He was in shock. The picture he painted during our conversation was the direct opposite of what actually went on.”

They met up with their son at the hospital, where a doctor provided some very alarming news.

“I fractured my nasal cavity. I ended getting a plate in my head,” Jackson said after Saturday’s game.

The idea of never again playing football was a tough pill to swallow. He grew up in sports. His brother played linebacker for the Oklahoma Sooners, who the Cyclones just happen to face at 6 p.m. Saturday in Norman.

“The first doctor said right away that he definitely will never play football again,” Mark Jackson said. “That was the first word we heard from any doctor. I looked at Daniel. I could tell that was devastating to him. I'm like, 'OK, we need a second opinion.'

“We got it. Another doctor we talked to said there was a chance he could be back on the field before his senior season was over.”

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Jackson was back all right. He caught two passes for 50 or so yards in the final regular-season high school game. Quite an achievement when you factor in what he’d gone through.

“Two of the biggest catches of my life – definitely,” he said.

Jackson's big game against Oklahoma State

He verbally committed to Iowa State in July 2020 − before the accident. Thoughts immediately turned to, would Iowa State still honor the verbal agreement? Daniel’s phone was still in the demolished car. He had no idea that Campbell and assistant coach Nate Scheelhaase had reached out.

“That absolutely was never under consideration,” Scheelhaase said Sunday. “More than anything, we hoped he’d be all right rather than what that meant for Iowa State.”

Jackson’s offer sheet included Arizona State, Arizona, USC, Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State and a host of others. Some schools had second thoughts, but Iowa State?

“They stayed loyal,” Mark Jackson said. “They didn’t waiver.”

Jackson signed his national letter of intent. He made the team – then bad stuff struck again. His true freshman season in Ames was finished after four games due to injury. A hamstring injury followed. Jackson's mind started to wander.

“Honestly, I was about to walk away last season,” he said. “I had a talk with (Scheelhaase). He said if I felt I put everything I had into (football), then you can leave and walk away. I felt like I hadn’t put everything I had into it. I didn’t know if I could push through. I still feel I have a lot to give.”

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Scheelhaase sugar-coated nothing.

“It was an honest discussion,” the Cyclones' offensive coordinator told me. “We knew Daniel was really talented. We knew he had the potential to be a playmaker, but what we felt like we hadn’t seen was the consistency from him in his preparation on the details of the offense.”

Mark Jackson also talked to Scheelhaase, who at the time was Jackson’s position coach.

“Basically, what my perspective was, what was the relationship like?” Mark told me. “Regardless if he’s playing or not, my biggest thing was that we have a son still trying to mature as a man.”

Something clicked, and maybe it was that Jackson and former Cyclones star receiver and Houston Texans draft selection Xavier Hutchinson were roommates last year.

“Coach Campbell said something the week before the Ohio game,” Scheelhaase said. “He told Daniel that the way he’s practicing, something good is going to amount to this.”

Something good like last Saturday, and especially when Jackson and quarterback Rocco Becht hooked up on a first-quarter 29-yard touchdown pass – the first of Jackson's college career.

“I was just so happy for him,” his father said. “I was thanking the Lord for all of the hard work (Daniel) had put in. He had opportunity to taste a little bit of the fruit off that vine.

“It almost brought a tear.”

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State receiver Daniel Jackson is the definition of a survivor