After their football careers, many NFL players struggle to figure out what comes next. Finding that next big thing isn’t easy, and it often leaves them feeling like they’ve lost their identity and structure. It’s a challenge former wide receiver DeSean Jackson also faced before eventually following in Deion Sanders’ footsteps.
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Think about it like this: from their early 20s to their early or mid-30s, NFL players live highly structured lives. They follow a regimen and schedule that creates a social network centered around the team. Some guys practically live at their team’s practice facility during the season.
That’s why retiring can be so difficult for some players to mentally process, because it’s a massive change. Jackson recently opened up about this while fishing with Deion Sanders in Dallas.
“I feel like after I retired in 2022, I kind of didn’t really have a purpose. But I was trying to find my purpose. Played football all these years, all my life. Played 15 years in the league and then transitioning, I kind of sat around and didn’t really know what to do,” Jackson said via Well Off Media.
It’s a common struggle many professional athletes face in their first year of retirement — they’re left to entertain themselves for the first time in their lives.
But Jackson couldn’t sit still for long. After just one year to himself, he felt the need to get back out there and do something for his own well-being.
“I was like, man, let me sit down for a year and chill out. And then after that year, I was like, man, I got to get my butt up and off that couch and figure it out. Coaching was just something that gravitated towards me,” Jackson stated.
The former wideout served as the offensive coordinator at Woodrow High School in Long Beach in 2024. There, he quickly discovered that coaching was his calling. Not long after, he accepted the head coaching job at the HBCU Delaware State.
Jackson said that Deion’s success at Jackson State showed him the path to becoming a coach. He’s also been receiving advice from Coach Prime on what to expect in his new role.
“Coach Prime, to me, has been tremendous. Going through my process of being at an HBCU, coaching at Delaware State. Just the ins and outs, what to expect, what not to expect. I think the biggest thing was how vulnerable he was, how real he was. And challenging as well, because everything I’m going through, he already went through it.”
It’s hard to deny that Jackson is following a path nearly identical to Deion’s. He started by coaching youth before realizing he could do much more. At Delaware State, Jackson now has the opportunity to build success and potentially turn the role into something even bigger down the line.
All in all, who would’ve thought the Deion effect extended beyond just recruiting and national recognition? Sanders has now inspired another former player to become a head coach. We’ll see what Jackson can accomplish at the HBCU. The team has gone 2-21 over the past two seasons, so he certainly has his work cut out for him.
