Editing Darrell Jackson (section)

== Early life ==

Jackson was born in [[Dayton, Ohio]] in 1978,<ref name=pfrprofile>Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JackDa00.htm  Darrell Jackson].  Retrieved July 1, 2010.</ref> one of eight brothers and sisters in his family.<ref name=ufprofile>GatorZone.com, Football History, 1999 Roster, [http://web.gatorzone.com/football/bios.php?year=1999&bio=jackson_da.html  Darrell Jackson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902023432/http://web.gatorzone.com/football/bios.php?year=1999&bio=jackson_da.html |date=September 2, 2011 }}.  Retrieved March 24, 2011.</ref>  He attended [[Tampa Catholic High School]] in [[Tampa, Florida]],<ref name=dbfprofile>databaseFootball.com, Players, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070209003636/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JACKSDAR01  Darrell Jackson]}}.  Retrieved July 1, 2010.</ref> where he was a standout wide receiver for the Tampa Catholic Crusaders high school football team.<ref name=knight10051999>Joey Knight, "[http://tampabayonline.net/reports/top100/no67.htm  Tampa Bay's All-Century Team: No. 82 Darrell Jackson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021103224210/http://tampabayonline.net/reports/top100/no67.htm |date=2002-11-03 }}," ''The Tampa Tribune'' (October 5, 1999).  Retrieved April 17, 2012.</ref>  As a senior, Jackson set then-national high school records for career receiving yardage (4,594) and average yards per catch (24.05), and caught a total of 191 passes in three seasons for the Crusaders.<ref name=fhsaa12122007>"[http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2007/1212  FHSAA announces 33-member All-Century football team] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628174650/http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2007/1212 |date=June 28, 2013 }}," Florida High School Association (December 12, 2007).  Retrieved May 26, 2011.</ref>  He had eighty-nine [[reception (American football)|reception]]s for 2,087 yards and twenty-eight [[touchdown]]s as a junior, and sixty-seven receptions as a senior.<ref name=fhsaa12122007/>

Basketball, not football, however, was Jackson's first love.<ref name=knight10051999/>  As the sophomore point guard of a basketball team that included only eight players, he led the Crusaders to the 3A crown and was named state tournament most valuable player.<ref name=knight10051999/>  As a senior, he led his team to the state tournament one more time in 1997, where it lost in the championship game.<ref name=knight10051999/>

''The Tampa Tribune'' recognized Jackson as one of the 100 greatest Tampa Bay area athletes of the last century in 1999.<ref name=knight10051999/>  In 2007, eleven years after he graduated from Tampa Catholic, the [[Florida High School Athletic Association]] (FHSAA) recognized Jackson as one of the thirty-three all-time greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years by naming him to its "[[FHSAA's All-Century Team|All-Century Team]]."<ref name=fhsaa12122007/>