GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Shortly after committing to the University of Florida, defensive tackle Cam Jackson went live on Twitter. Florida fans began to trickle in and when the number crept up over 1,000 Jackson turned to his friend, “Yo, man, I think I broke the internet.”
It was Jackson’s first taste of Gator Nation.
“Being able to get that taste of being introduced to Florida, I ain’t never really even been to Florida before last year when I transferred,” Jackson told Florida Victorious. “Just being able to come down here, be with the fans, greet with them, meet them last year and them taking me and my family in. It’s been good these past two years.”
Jackson received invites to the East-West Shrine game and Senior Bowl after the 2023 season but made the decision to come back to school in 2024 for his final year of eligibility. Jackson worked tirelessly in the offseason to trim down and get in better shape. He thought he needed to in order to play more snaps and be more effective. It worked. Jackson finished the regular season with 37 tackles, four for a loss, and 1.5 sacks.
“I think this year I put on film just being more disruptive and playing faster than what I played last year,” Jackson said. “I showed that I can pass rush also.”
He’s already been invited to the East-West Shrine game and the Senior Bowl. Jackson will get the chance to play and meet with all 32 NFL teams. He also had an injury scare against Florida State.
“To be honest with you, I really thought that my ankle, that I had broke my ankle,” Jackson told Florida Victorious. “They rolled up on it my older brother and my girlfriend were there and they thought I had grabbed my knee. Shemar James thought I grabbed my knee as well, he got scared. I was grabbing my ankle. I hurt the same ankle last year against Georgia. I would say I was a little nervous. I thought it was bad.”
Yet, Jackson has made the decision to play in Florida’s bowl game — they’ll find out what game that is on Sunday, December 8. Why is Jackson sticking it out? He could easily decide to skip the bowl game and start preparing for the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine, and Draft. An injury this close to the draft could hurt his stock and his teammates would certainly understand if he wanted to focus on the next step in his career. Those teammates are the reason he couldn’t step away early.
“Just finishing it out with my guys, for real. We had a rough start at the beginning of the season but we turned things around really after the bye week. It was just important to me to finish it out with these guys. Guys like Caleb Banks, Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, DJ Lagway, Chim (Dike), Montrell (Johnson). I wanted to finish it out with them,” Jackson said.
“It’s going to mean a lot. Brandon (Crenshaw-Dickson), when he came in he kind of took me under his wing as a little brother. He came in as a leader, for real. Just having him hold me to a standard the whole offseason. I’m going to miss playing with him. Caleb Banks, that’s like my ride or die, there. I’m going to miss playing with him for sure. Just being by him and competing with him, like who’s gonna make more plays on Saturday? Just being able to be with them two guys these last months, man, I’m gonna miss playing with those guys.”
The Gators likely won’t use all 15 of their allotted bowl practices, Billy Napier said as much when asked about that. The bowl practices also can, should, and will be used to get younger players more experience. The work is the work and Jackson will still be out there but this is really a chance for him to be a student-athlete for one more month. One more month to get to share the locker room and the field with the guys he considers brothers.
It’s also one more chance to perform for Gator Nation. Jackson once thought that 1,000 people watching a live video he was hosting was crazy. His announcement to play in the bowl game has more than 215,000 impressions on X. He’s seen the power Florida fans have and getting the chance to play for them one more time was too good to pass up.
“The fans, especially when I announced that I was playing in the bowl game, they get hype,” Jackson said. “Just being able to play in front of them and perform in front of them every Saturday has been great.”
Cam Jackson on Playing with DJ Lagway
Just one game into the 2024 season, the Gators had to turn to freshman DJ Lagway. The signal caller from Willis, Texas replaced the injured Graham Mertz and immediately stepped into a leadership role. Mertz would return, but suffered a season-ending injury against Tennessee and the team was, turned over to Lagway for good. There wasn’t any hesitation from Jackson or his teammates to trust in a true freshman.
“Man, DJ, he’s just a special kid,” Jackson said. “That kid, he’s just different. He’s very humble. I remember when I first talked to DJ and he told me he just wanted to play ball and win. I’m really grateful that I was able to play with that kid this year.”
