Michigan State legend hangs up cleats to join the military: 'I am excited to serve this nation'
When Jalen Watts-Jackson grabbed a botched punt and took it 38 yards to the house to give Michigan State a 27-23 win over Michigan on October 27, 2015, fans of the green and white hailed him as a hero.
Well, when it comes to his heroism, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Watts-Jackson is taking his talents to the U.S. Air Force, joining the military in an effort to be top gun not just on the football field but in the skies as well.
When he celebrated that football play three years ago, he managed to break his hip during the celebration, effectively ending his football career as a serious NFL prospect.
So now, rather than becoming a graduate assistant in East Lansing, he is instead heading up to the wild blue yonder.
“I am going into the Air Force,” Watts-Jackson told SpartanNation.com. “I was raised that it is a good idea to serve your country. I have family members that have served this county including my dad. So I am excited to serve this nation.”
Watts-Jackson is a native of Detroit, a place where even with a college education, one’s economic options are often limited.
He said he hopes to go into cyber systems operation and security.
And with foreign hackers around every corner trying to infiltrate all facets of American political life from crunchy granola bar to “14 Words,” we need all the qualified cybersecurity we can get in our military.
Watts-Jackson saw an ignoble conclusion to his football career.
In 2016, he played in nine games and recorded just three tackles, his injury entering into the annals of “he was never the same” discussions.
But it’s clear that with the “athlete” part of student-athlete removed from the equation, Watts-Jackson applied himself to his studies; the mere fact that “graduate assistant” was on the table in the first place speaks to his ability to take adversity and turn it into a positive.
It’s that kind of attitude that will, if he carries it into the military, serve him exceptionally well.
And to announce it with the echoes of the Fourth of July fireworks still reverberating, memories fresh of rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air?
Well, here’s a football player who not only gets up off his knees when those words are set to music but goes above and beyond duty and service to the flag.
Stay safe out there, Jalen.
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