? A standout multi-sport athlete at Allendale High School, Robert Jackson went on to become a three-time All-Mid-American Conference player at Central Michigan University and play for eight years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Jackson earned all-state honors in baseball, basketball and football at Allendale, but earned most of his headlines as the football team’s record-setting running back. In his senior season in 1976 he averaged four touchdowns per game and scored 217 points.
He was recruited by Central Michigan as a running back but switched to safety and was dominant. He starred on back-to-back conference championship teams in 1979 and ’80. He earned four letters and finished his career with 304 tackles, 10 interceptions and six fumble recoveries. He was one of the team captains in 1980 and also ran track for CMU. The football program had a 38-5-2 record in his four years.
He was drafted by the Bengals in the 11th round of the 1981 draft with the 285th pick overall. He finished his career having played in 90 NFL games, including 55 as a starter. He had 15 career interceptions, including two he returned for touchdowns, and recovered seven fumbles. He had six of his interceptions in the 1985 season.
Twice during his career, the Bengals went to the Super Bowl, and both times he did not play in the game. He was a rookie in 1982, but torn knee ligaments kept him out of the Super Bowl, a 26-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVI in his home state at the Pontiac Silverdome. Then in 1988 he sat out the season in a contract dispute and missed Super Bowl XXII, which was a 20-16 Bengals’ loss to San Francisco. He retired in 1989 with knee injury issues.
He stayed in Ohio where he worked as a bridge inspector for the Fairfield, Ohio, Streets Department and was also a motivational speaker. In 1987 he was named “Cincinnati Man of the Year” by a civic group.
He is a member of the Allendale Alumni Hall of Fame and Central Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame.