By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – As with every Pro Day on any college campus, NFL scouts were at S.B. Ballard Stadium Friday to measure players in just about every way imaginable.
For three hours, their 40-yard time, vertical jump, height and weight, weight-lifting strength and times in all kinds of agility drills were measured. Scouts also observed players throwing, running and catching.
But there was no machine to measure courage. And although he might not have been the best NFL prospect on the turf, Cory Jackson surely would have broken that machine if it existed.
A 6-foot-2, 241-pound defensive end for the Old Dominion football team, Jackson made some critical plays that helped ODU garner a bowl bid. And he did so with two broken bones.
Football is a violent sport that takes a ton of toughness, but what Jackson did goes beyond the ordinary.
When he lined up against Tulsa in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, he did so with a cast protecting his right wrist, which was broken; a steel plate in one foot to protect a turf toe injury and a steel plate on the other foot to protect a broken bone.
"One of the grittiest kids I've ever been around," said ODU assistant coach Kevin Smith, who coached outside linebackers. "He played with so much courage."
He suffered the turf toe injury a year ago in spring practice. He had surgery and injections to reduce the swelling and played with a steel plate to protect him.
He was injured again in ODU's 23-20 victory over Louisiana Tech, which ended a five-game losing streak and put the Monarchs on track to win their last five and garner a bowl bid.
He was on the receiving end of a cut a block from a running back and broke his wrist. Smith said he was told early in the game that Jackson was done for the game. But trainers put a cast on his right wrist at halftime and he went back on the field.
He then broke a bone in his foot in the second half when a LA Tech player fell across his foot. He felt searing pain, but like I said, Jackson is one strong dude.
He toughed out the pain the rest of the game. When he took his shoes off in the locker room, he discovered he couldn't walk. It was only after the game that he asked trainers to take a look at his foot.
"He was told he was done," Smith said. "But he said, 'I'm fine.' I told him, 'You're not fine.' He said, 'yes, I'm fine. What are you so upset about?'"
Remarkably, he returned two weeks later when the Monarchs won at Middle Tennessee, which set up a winner-takes-all game with Charlotte, with the winner going to a bowl and the loser playing for the last time in 2021.
Jackson played a key role in ODU's 56-34 victory over the 49ers, arguably one of the program's biggest in recent years, on the last day of the regular season. He tied a career high with seven tackles, including a tackle for a loss when a stripped the ball away from a Charlotte player that set up a touchdown that put the Monarchs ahead by two scores.
As I said, his foot had a protective cast, a steel plate and enough tape to wrap around S.B. Ballard Stadium, but ODU's athletic trainers could only do so much.
"It hurt," he said. "On a scale of 10, it was a seven."
Yet he continued to play.
"I asked my parents what I should do," he said. "They said if the pain is bearable, that I should play.
"So, I did."
Smith said that "his ability to play so well, on top of being gritty, comes from being very instinctual and football savvy," Smith said. "The game just makes sense to him."
A Jackson, Mississippi native, Jackson came to ODU from Pearl River Junior College in Mississippi. He went to junior college largely because his standardized test scores were lacking.
He played two seasons at Pearl River before enrolling at ODU in December of 2019. He chose ODU over half a dozen Group of 5 schools, including UAB, largely because he built a close relationship with then head coach Bobby Wilder.
In his first season at ODU, the Monarchs were 1-11 and after the season, Wilder and his entire coaching staff resigned.
Jackson said he quickly bonded with new head coach Ricky Rahne, defensive coordinator Blake Seiler and Smith. But then came the pandemic, which forced ODU to cancel the 2020 season, and then a 1-6 start in 2021.
Jackson said he and his teammates believed they were on the right track even after that sixth loss. Part of that confidence came from the unity that had been built between players, coaches and their families.
Wives, girlfriends and kids were often seen at the L.R. Hill Sports Center, and players often dined with the Rahne family in their home as well as in the homes of their position coaches. That built a unique bond between coaches and players.
"Coach Rahne is so young, he understands where we're coming from," he said. "I feel like I was more connected with him.
"Coach Seiler understands where we're coming from. His brain, his knowledge of the game, is out of this world. He'll put you in a position to make a play without you knowing why. But there's always a reason. He just knows what's going to happen before it happens.
"He and coach Rahne are turning this program around."
Jackson was among eight players who participated in Pro Day. Offensive lineman Isaac Weaver, a 6-6, 305-pound sixth-year senior, is likely the most prominent prospect of the eight. He has been training in Tampa, Florida, with linebacker Jordan Young and safety Joe Joe Headen.
They've been working out at a center with other seniors, including players from Wisconsin and Arkansas, with whom they've bonded.
But after more than a decade of playing football, Weaver said it's been quite a transition to training for yourself.
"You go from working out for a team with a common goal, to come together to win games to try to be the best team we can," he said. "And then you're on your own. You're more or less fending for yourself. But it's been a cool experience so far."
"I've learned it's a business," Headen added. "You can't take anything personally. You just have to come in and work. It's not easy to be a pro in any endeavor.
Having a chance to play pro ball is a privilege."
Others who participated included Stone Smartt, who played both quarterback and wide receiver; safety Harrell Blackmon, also a Jackson, Mississippi native who had 54 tackles last season; Roger Cray, a transfer from Western Kentucky who started at cornerback and had 12 pass breakups; and Nick Rice, the placekicker who is ODU's all-time leading scorer.
Smartt worked out as both a quarterback and wide receiver and garnered high marks for his pass-catching ability, as well as his 40-inch vertical leap. At conclusion of the workouts, three NFL scouts conversed with him at length, taking notes.
Young, ODU's all-time leading tackler, said seeing the Washington Commanders and other NFL team logos among the nine scouts made his heart skip a beat.
"As soon as we stepped foot (on the field), I took a moment to look around and enjoy it," he said. "This has been a childhood dream.
"Being in this position, I want to give it my all, that I left this day giving everything I have."
Jackson graduated in December, during a special ceremony held in Myrtle Beach, with a degree in sport management. He hopes to become a coach. Although he arrived Friday in superb athletic shape, he realizes his odds of making it in the NFL are long.
But he will continue to work out with his personal trainer in Chesapeake and hope his agent can get him a tryout in an NFL camp, and if not, perhaps a shot in the new USFL.
"It's every player's dream to play professionally," he said, adding that he plans to put on 10 more pounds of muscle. As I gazed at his massive chest muscles and biceps, I asked, "but where?"
He just laughed.
Smith said that Jackson will be a success in whatever career he ends up choosing.
"The way he's carried himself says so much about his character," Smith said. "He never balked at anything we asked him to do.
"Even when it was something to do with class or something else off the field, he just did what we asked him to do. His ability to buy in and trust us was a big part of his success.
"It was unbelievable how he took things in stride. At the tail end of the year, we asked him to learn a second position, defensive end. He didn't say anything other than, 'what do you need me to learn?'
"You can tell he comes from good people, from a good family. He always wanted to do everything the right way."
Minium: If NFL Valued Courage as Much as Talent, ODU's Cory Jackson Would be a Prized Prospect
