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The number 22 holds special significance for Florida football wide receiver Kahleil Jackson.
At a time when college football skill position players often trade in double-digit jersey numbers for single digits, Jackson intends to wear 22 for the remainder of his career with the Florida Gators.
It serves as a bond across generations. Jackson’s grandfather, Willie Jackson Sr., wore it as the first African American player to appear in a game for UF at wide receiver in its 1970 season opener against Duke.
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Jackson’s father, Willie Jackson Jr., wore the number in the 1990s as a star wideout in Steve Spurrier’s Fun N Gun offense. His uncle, Terry Jackson, wore 22 as a running back on UF’s first national championship team in 1996.
“Guys expect older guys, guys who have been in a program for a little while to have a single digit number, one of the cooler numbers, so they say,” Jackson said. “But to wear that number 22, part of my family legacy is really important to me, my grandad being the first African American football player here, and then my dad and my uncle as well playing here, wearing that number.
“For us, it’s definitely a blessing to be able to continue the legacy.”
A legacy that Jackson’s father, Willie Jackson Jr., says goes beyond making touchdown catches at The Swamp.
“I think of it being not so much of him picking the number as the number picking him,” Jackson Jr. said. “It’s a given, like a given type of thing, why would you not want to number 22 at the University of Florida. That’s the way we’ve always looked at it.”
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-florida-football-wr-kahleil-090604332.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-02-20 09:06:04
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