Pahokee's NFL Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson on earning diploma from Pitt: 'I had to have it'

Rickey Jackson loves returning to Pahokee and just being himself. Hanging out at a local restaurant without being hounded. Watching his alma mater play without creating a fuss. Playing golf without having to be interrupted.

Doing it all, and not being bothered for an autograph or a picture.

"I enjoy being back home because people just treat me like a normal person," said Jackson, who also has a home in New Orleans. "If I'm in New Orleans or somewhere, you got to sign autographs, you got to do all this stuff. At home, nobody asks for that.

"I'm just one of the guys."

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Of course, Jackson, 65, is anything but just another guy.

The greatest football player from an area that produces athletes like its muck produces crops, Jackson played 15 seasons in the NFL as a linebacker with the Saints and 49ers and is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who played high school ball in Palm Beach County.

But those highlights will drop one spot on Jackson's list of accomplishments this weekend when he walks across a stage at the Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus to receive his degree in social sciences ... 42 years after leaving the school.

Jackson, with his double XL cap and gown, arrives in Pittsburgh Friday and will walk Sunday.

Jackson's mom wanted him to get his degree

"I've been real close," Jackson said. "I could have got it. I played football for 15 years I really didn't think about getting it. Then it came to a point where I had to have it. And my mother always wanted me to get my degree."

Jackson said he was just a few history classes shy of a degree when he was taken in the second round (51st overall) of the 1981 draft by the New Orleans Saints. He's been taking online classes for about a year to finish the job.

I asked Jackson, a man who reached the pinnacle of his professional career and is so admired in his hometown that he has a road named in his honor and is one of four members of the Muck City Hall of Fame's inaugural class, where this accomplishment ranks in his life.

"Third," he said without hesitation. "Behind my religion and my kids. Then that. Football comes after all of that."

The Glades is filled with role models who have thrived after being raised in one of the richest agricultural areas of our country, yet one deprived of economic, social and cultural support. An optimistic outlook can be difficult when raised in such a remote area that has been ignored and disenfranchised.

But when someone reaches the top of his or her profession, especially in athletics, is set for life and still makes the commitment to earn a degree, that is an invaluable lesson. Especially for every young boy and girl who has ever chased a rabbit out of a cane field or ran the dike in the searing summer sun.

"Anybody can do this," said Jackson, who said he spends about 70% of his time at his home in Pahokee. "I did it. It just takes commitment."

Lawrence Taylor also wants to get his degree

Jackson believes he's making a difference and not just in his hometown. He is friends with another Hall of Fame football player who terrorized NFL quarterbacks, Lawrence Taylor. He said the former Giants outside linebacker has been inspired enough to look into completing his studies at North Carolina.

"A lot of ex-football players, they want to go back and finish," Taylor said. "I got a lot of buddies. They see what I did. They want to go back now and get their degrees. All of them were pretty close. Now, a lot of them are going back."

Jackson estimates that number to be 10 to 15.

But not all have the resume Jackson has built. Jackson's list of accolades extends from being named to the FHSAA all-century team to being inducted into the Pitt Hall of Fame in 2022 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. He played 13 seasons with the Saints and two with the 49ers, where he and his teammates won a Super Bowl in 1995.

Jackson said he's very happy and enjoying retirement, especially the part that allows him to return to The Muck. Now, he will do so with a new title: college graduate.

"You can do anything, be the best who ever played, and when you get through you can always go back home," he said. "That's my thing."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NFL Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson receiving diploma from Pittsburgh