Chris Jackson Has Rampage Ready
Neal Ruhl
Thursday January 27, 2005
Well help has arrived for the Grand Rapids Rampage in the form of OS Chris Jackson. In one of the boldest moves of the off-season, the Rampage were able to acquire the 2003 offensive player of the year via free agency. Jackson lends some instant credibility to an offense that managed only 36.3 points per game last season while winning only one game.
In the five years since Jackson has arrived on the scene in the AFL, no one has caught more passes, gained more receiving yards, or scored more touchdowns. Following practice at Rampage media day today, I was able to sit down with the man who has scored at least one touchdown in all but one game he has played in the Arena League to talk about playing in the Rose Bowl, and the free agency process.
Neal Ruhl- "You played in the Rose Bowl following the 1997 season at Washington St. What was that experience like?"
Chris Jackson- "That was one of the best experiences of my football career. There are 100,000 people and 50,000 of them are cheering for you, and 50,000 are cheering for Michigan. It was great."
NR- "Tell me about you NFL experience."
CJ- "I bounced around a little bit. Injuries were a big problem. I ruptured a disk in 2001, but if I never play again in the NFL, I am happy with what I did."
NR- "Tell me about the free agency process."
CJ- "You talk to a lot of teams, and a lot of teams make you a lot promises."
NR- "You have played your whole career in L.A. The weather is always nice, and you got the beaches. The wind chill here today is about –2 and there is a foot of snow. Why Grand Rapids?"
CJ- "They didn’t make any of those promises. It was just nice to be wanted. This is a community that is behind their team. Every time I played here as a visitor, the crowd was always great. This is the Green Bay of Arena Football."
The Rampage open the season when they take on Sherdrick Bonner and the Arizona Rattlers Friday night at 7:30. The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Net.
Neal Ruhl lives in the Metro Detroit Area where he has covered the Detroit Lions as well as the Motor City Bowl.
