ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’s been a while, but Malik Jackson officially leaves his days as an NFL defensive lineman with the Denver Broncos as a major piece of his life.
“It was home,’’ Jackson said Friday in an interview with 9NEWS. “It was the first opportunity for me. Coach (John) Fox and coach (Jack) Del Rio will always hold a spot in my heart. It meant everything.”
Jackson was one of John Elway’s most astute draft picks, as the defensive tackle was selected in the fifth round of the 2012 draft out of Tennessee. It was when coordinator Wade Phillips flipped the Broncos’ defensive front from a 4-3 to the 3-4 for the 2015 season that Jackson took off, along with Derek Wolfe as an interior force along the defensive line.
“Antonio Smith, Terrance Knighton, all those guys, Robert Ayers, Kevin Vickerson really helped me,’’ Jackson said. “Von Miller was an integral part. D-Ware. Really everybody that was on that defensive was integral in who I became as a player.
“I would say 2015 was definitely one of my better years. Great timing for free agency. I had a lot of great teammates around me, coaches. (Defensive line coach) Bill Kollar was very instrumental in what I accomplished.’’
Jackson forever lives on in Broncos’ lore for recovering a fumble in the end zone off a Von Miller strip sack for a touchdown that sent Denver on its way to a 24-10 win over Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. A top highlight in what became a 10-year career for Jackson?
“Nah, it was a big deal for the game situation, but I was about sacks, not touchdowns,’’ he said.
By his own account, Jackson said news of his retirement Friday was old news.
“I retired two years ago,’’ he said. “This was just the first time I said it out loud in front of people. But I’ve been sitting down for a while.”
After the 2015 season, Jackson turned down a four-year contract extension offer from the Broncos that would have paid him about $9 million a year. Instead he became a free agent, and his agent Jack Scharf negotiated a six-year, $85 million contract – $14.16 million per year – with Jacksonville. Jackson played three years with the Jaguars and two with the Eagles before finishing his career in 2021 with the Browns.
“They (the Broncos) committed a few things. I think that year they kept Von at his price,’’ Jackson said. “They paid a couple other players, so I wanted to see what the market had in store for me, and luckily it worked out for me. Nothing personal. It would have been great to stay there, but it wound up working out for me.”
Now 33, Jackson made more than $72 million in career earnings, so he doesn’t have to work, but he said he’s going to, He’s been in living in his hometown Los Angeles helping to raise his 7-year-old daughter as he trails people in various fields to learn about what potentially is next.
“It’s one of those things where you do something so long you become pretty good at it, and I think that’s driving me to want to go conquer something else,’’ Jackson said. “I have the option of sitting around and doing nothing, but I’ve learned that I can’t do that. I’m going out and finding something new and committing to that. It doesn’t have to be about the money, which makes it easier for me, but it’s something I want to do.”
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