Ohio State football offensive lineman Donovan Jackson wants credit for a TikTok trend

Ohio State's Donovan Jackson is a 6-foot-4, 320-pound guard out of Bellaire, Texas. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed one sack and 10 pressures on 415 pass block snaps during the regular season and played 768 snaps total.

That earned him enough votes from the Big Ten's coaches and media to earn him First-Team All-Conference honors.

The son of Melanie and Todd Jackson, he also has a sister, Rachel, who is working on her master’s degree in environmental sciences at Duke.

Get to know Ohio State offensive lineman Donovan Jackson

What's a moment that changed your life?

Ah, that's such a deep and profound question.

Thought I'd start with an easy one.

The moment I was first offered a scholarship. And that was to the University of Memphis. I remember I was at football camp in Texas, and my dad knew about it beforehand and didn't tell me till after. I think that's when I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I can actually make something out of this.' I think that definitely changed my mindset and my life when it came to how I approach things. So definitely one of the pivotal moments in my life.

What was your mindset before, and what do you want to accomplish now?

Well, before I was just big and strong having fun playing football. And afterward, I'm like, 'Oh man like I can make a living out of this. I can make, God willing, a lot of money out of this.' So that's kind of where my mind mindset changed. I took it a lot more serious, trained a lot harder. You know, just my outlook on everything changed after that moment.

If you had all the money in the world, what would you be spending it on?

Meals on Wheels. They partner with us a lot. And I enjoy going over to the James Hospital. I visited there with a couple of teammates of mine. That was a great experience for us. So I definitely would spend my money where it's actually needed. You know, I don't need all that money. But the stuff they do at the Ronald McDonald House ... improving the lives of their patients and everything like that, I think that's really cool.

And if I had all the money in the world – see I'm a very simple guy – but I'd probably buy every Ugg slipper in every color. That's my go-to shoe.

MORE: OSU's Jackson needed talked out of his room after Michigan loss

I believe you had an NIL deal at Applebee's?

I did, yeah. When NIL first came out. I was like, 'Hey, I'm a lineman. I like eating. Let's see what these restaurants have to offer.' And a couple of them said, 'Hey, we'll partner with you,' and Applebee's is certainly one of them. I ... definitely got some free meals out of it, which I used very quickly because in order to stay this big, you got to eat big.

What is your favorite meal?

Mmmm. I eat so much. I would say being from the South, being from Texas, my favorite meals are Cajun cooking, like crawfish and stuff like that. Gumbo. My mom makes great gumbo. Whenever she makes that, it's a huge night in the Jackson household. So I'd say that's definitely one of my favorites since coming to Ohio. I eat a lot. At this point, I just eat for calories. I don't really eat for taste. But yeah, definitely, the Cajun stuff is what I like the most.

Texas? I was told you're from Cincinnati.

Who told you to say that?

(laughs) It was Matt. Matthew Jones told me to say that.

Naw. Oh, my gosh. No. I'm gonna...

What's the deal with that?

So for context, my mom's from Cincinnati and my dad's from Cleveland. And the majority of my extended family, like a good chunk of it, is in the Cincinnati area. It just so happens I was born and raised in Texas. And so I claim Texas.

But everyone is like, 'So where are you going for Thanksgiving?' Well, 'I'm going to Cincinnati.' 'Where are you going for Christmas?' 'Well, I'm going to Cincinnati.' 'So you're from Cincinnati?' 'No, I'm not. I'm from Texas.'

But it's a running joke in the o-line room to say, 'No, he's from Cincinnati. He's just lying to you.' And so ... the new freshmen come in and say, 'I thought you're from Cincinnati.' And I'm like, 'Who got to you first?'

I can show you my license. I'm a Texas resident. But the majority of my family is from Cincinnati.

What makes you so proud to be a Texan?

It's just a beautiful state. You know, hot obviously, but I feel like it's a melting pot of all the cultures there. The food's amazing. The downtown's great. I just loved everything about it growing up. I lived in Cypress, Texas, which is one of the suburbs, but I went to Bellaire Episcopal High School, which is in the city of Houston. And so I saw a bit of both, and I personally loved it. You could say it's all I knew. But at that point in my life, it's all I wanted to know. And Columbus has been great. I would say it wasn't a huge culture shock. Columbus is a great city. But my heart always stays with Houston, Texas.

So you liked that you stayed in one place but were able to see a little bit of everything?

Yeah, I love different environments. You know, you never want to be stagnant in one place for too long because I feel like that just delays growth.

What's an area where you're really proud of the growth you've shown?

I would say one area I'm proud of is just my social skills or sociability. (It used to be) if I don't know you, I look at you from afar, I'm not wanting to initiate conversation. But now I'm open to everybody. I feel like I can get along with a lot of people. Just trying to show my personality out there. 'Hey, I'm Donovan Jackson, I'll gladly be friends with you.' That is if you show me the same respect back.

What's an area where you want to show more growth?

Just my leadership skills. I'm a lead-by-example type of guy, and a lot of people don't relate to that as well. Like they have to be told or taught what to do. And so just trying to try to improve on that and try to be the best leader I can be.

You talked about your parents. What do they do?

My dad is a director of marketing at Motiva (Enterprises), which is like the middleman between the consumer and gas stations. And then my mom is a fifth-grade teacher.

Oh, how cool. Did you ever go to the schools where your mom taught?

Yeah, I went to the same elementary school she taught. But either it was a rule there or she made the rule: The parents can't teach the kid. And so she wasn't my math teacher, which she regrets now because I still don't like math. And she was like, 'Well, if I was your math teacher, you'd love math.' But yeah, growing up, having her down the hall was a huge thing for me. It was pretty nice.

What is your favorite subject?

My favorite subject is history. I like history a lot. I was always really good at history.

Here's your chance: Wow me with your knowledge of history.

I would have to say my favorite historical thing, I was really big into the Roman Empire

I understand all men are.

(laughs) Yeah, this isn't a TikTok trend. This is actually the honest truth here. It just so happened to become a trend, but like I was ahead of the curve. I was I was ahead of the game here. I don't get credited for it, but I basically started the trend.

But, yeah, they created technological advances, military formations. They conquered the Mediterranean, and they lasted from, I want to say, from about 600 (BCE) to 600 (CE). And so it was it was a really long-lasting empire and, and even now, there are remnants left. So I think it's really cool. There are other empires, too. You have the Han Dynasty, what they did in the East, in Asia, and what they did with trade. ... I really think that's pretty cool.

Who's your favorite musician?

Favorite musician. That's hard. I listen to a lot of music from rap to show tunes.

Oh, well, now I have to know: What is your favorite musical?

Hamilton. I know all the words to it. Me and Toby Wilson became really close friends because we knew the words of Hamilton. I think that the first week we met each other, it came on, we started rapping to it. We're like, 'Dude, are we best friends now?' That's literally how it happened. But I'll say Hamilton is my favorite.

Who does a better rendition of Hamilton, you or Toby?

I do.

And if I asked Toby, what would he tell me?

He'd say me.

Have you gotten to see it live?

I have. I saw it once. We don't get to go home very often, but one time I did, and I was able to see it in Houston.

Houston?

Yeah.

I was going to say Cincinnati.

No, no, no, no, no. In Houston. When I went home. In Houston.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Get to know Ohio State football offensive lineman Donovan Jackson