Jackson: Lost Fall Follows a Lost Summer : Football: Pierce College player is contrite after weeks of confusion that provoked concern of his coach, teammates.

Willie Jackson still seems confused by his summer, but he is unable to escape its effect on his fall. The Pierce College football player, who has a severe learning disability, must sit out the 1992 season.

“I feel hurt,” he said this week. “I messed up. I have to live with that. I’m real sorry because all my teammates were wondering where I was at.”

Pierce players worried about his whereabouts when Jackson failed to attend summer-school classes and skipped all but two of the team’s twice-weekly football practices in June and July. Because he skipped summer school, Jackson, 19, is academically ineligible to play this fall.

Jackson was seven units short of the 24 required to earn a second year of eligibility. The 6-foot-4, 248-pound defensive tackle was an All-Western State Conference second-team selection last fall.

During the past fall and spring semesters, Jackson completed 17 units--most in physical education classes--and could have picked up seven more units during summer school, according to Pierce Coach Bill Norton.

Jackson’s summer has included problems at home with his mother. Rosie Jackson is a single mother of five boys and also has a learning disability. She clashed with Willie over such traditional generational sore spots as telephone use and dating.

After a series of arguments, Willie Jackson moved in with teammate A.D. Sinha, a backup quarterback who rented an apartment in Canoga Park. Shortly thereafter, Sinha left town without warning, leaving Jackson alone in an empty apartment.

“I had to choose, football or a place to stay and eat,” Jackson said. “I wanted a place to stay.”

Because he had skipped practices, he feared calling Norton.

By the time Norton tracked Jackson down, the player had too many absences to pass his courses.

“I’m not mad at him,” Norton said. “I sympathize with him. He’s not doing anything wrong. When I was his age, I went through the same thing.”

Jackson’s playing days might not be over at Pierce. Under California junior college rules, an athlete seeking a second year of eligibility must maintain a 2.0 grade-point average in 24 units, no matter how long it takes to accrue them.

“It ain’t over for Willie. It just can’t happen now,” Norton said. “What we don’t want is Willie to drift off. We still want him to be a part of the team.”

Jackson will redshirt this season and is allowed to practice with the team. Norton also will arrange for him to serve as an assistant equipment manager so he can earn spending money.

Norton said he hopes Jackson uses the next school year not only to regain eligibility but to continue the modest academic strides he has made since entering the school last fall. Jackson can bench press 450 pounds and is one of the strongest players on the team. However, because of a severe learning disability, he has the academic development of a third-grader.

He attended a “school within a school” at Taft High in Woodland Hills and, instead of a graduation certificate, received a letter of recommendation, attesting to his effort and attendance.

His curriculum at Pierce consisted of physical education classes plus learning skills courses that included fundamental math and English, and computer work. He gets credit for playing football.

Jackson impressed his teachers with his willingness to work and please others. He is also a popular member of the team and a well-liked, recognizable figure on campus.

Although school administrators had expressed fears that Jackson’s enrollment would raise questions about the school’s academic standards, Jackson has erased those doubts, his troubles this summer notwithstanding.

“We’re happy that he will continue here and hope that he will take classes that will help him with self-sufficiency and self-esteem,” said Bob Garber, the acting dean of student services.

The next step, according to Norton, is to stabilize Jackson’s living situation. Currently, he is staying in Calabasas with the Klasses. Robin and Gary Klass’ oldest child, Michael, will be a senior at Calabasas High in the fall. He befriended Jackson at a San Fernando Valley sports club this summer.

It remains unclear how long Jackson will stay.

“We need to get Willie settled someplace, whether that’s with his mother or some other arrangement,” Norton said. “Football is his identity. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a Brahma for life.”