Name Michael Jackson College: Southern Mississippi Role American football player | Receptions: 353 Positions Wide receiver Receiving Yards: 5,393 | |
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Date of birth: (1969-04-12) April 12, 1969 (age 46) NFL draft: 1991 / Round: 6 / Pick: 41 Education University of Southern Mississippi | ||
Place of birth: Tangipahoa, Louisiana | ||
Michael Dywane Jackson Dyson (April 12, 1969 – May 12, 2017) was an American professional football player and politician.
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Jackson was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. A 6'4", 195 lbs. wide receiver from The University of Southern Mississippi, Jackson played in eight NFL seasons from 1991 to 1998 for the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson signed a 1 year contract with the Seattle Seahawks to play the 1999 season but was cut at the end of the preseason.
Career
In college, he was teammates with QB Brett Favre during the 1989 and 1990 seasons.
He was an immediate contributor for the Cleveland Browns under then head coach Bill Belichick with 3 seasons over 40 catches, 710 yards, and 7 TD. He had a then career-best season in 1993 when he hauled in 41 catches for 756 yards with 8 TD.
In 1993, Jackson changed his name to Dyson. Although, his legal last name was always Dyson, he was partial to using Jackson. He changed his name, when the NFL regulated numbers for positions and forced him to lose number 1 for number 81. After the first week of the season, he changed his name back to Jackson.
In 1996, Jackson was tied with San Diego Chargers wide receiver Tony Martin for most receiving touchdowns in the NFL with 14. He also had career highs with 76 catches and 1,201 yards.
On August 12, 1999 Jackson signed a 1 year contract with the Seattle Seahawks after their star wide receiver Joey Galloway continued his holdout. Jackson played in all four preseason games with the Seahawks catching a 23 yard touchdown against the Cardinals. Jackson was let go September 6, 1999 in the preseason cut down to the 53 man roster.
Jackson was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He served as mayor of his hometown, Tangipahoa, Louisiana, from 2009 through 2012.
Death
Jackson was killed in a motorcycle accident in the early morning hours of May 12, 2017. He was riding his motorcycle at high speed on US 51 in Tangipahoa, Louisiana when he struck the driver side of a vehicle that was backing out of a driveway. The high impact of the collision also killed the driver of the other vehicle, who was a 20-year-old woman.