Fred Jackson was a rarity in 2015: A 34-year-old running back. But he didn’t play at all in 2016, which presumably means his days in the NFL are over.
But Jackson doesn’t think so. He’s hoping to play in 2017 and waiting for some team to give him a call.
“I want to play, but it’s one of those things where we’ll see what happens,” Jackson told Sal Capaccio of WGR. “Training camps are around the corner. Some teams lose a back or two and maybe they give me a call. We’ll see what happens. I’m not ready to hang ‘em up yet, but I do know that I’m 36 and a lot of teams are scared of that.”
In 2015, Jackson played in all 16 games for the Seahawks, primarily as a third-down back and special teams player. Prior to that he spent nine seasons for the Bills and is third in franchise history in rushing yards, behind only Hall of Famers O.J. Simpson and Thurman Thomas. So he’s accomplished a lot in his NFL career, especially for a guy who went undrafted out of Coe College and had to play in the National Indoor Football League, United Indoor Football and NFL Europa before he ever got a shot at playing in the NFL.
Jackson still thinks he can accomplish a little more. That’s a long shot, but Jackson has proved plenty of people who doubted him wrong.