He Had People in His Corner

By Pete Thomas

Dec. 31, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Marlin Jackson loves to talk football. He has since he first donned pads and a helmet as a child.

But he’d rather not reminisce about his childhood, being so focused on football.

The Michigan cornerback has had a remarkable time on the football field, developing into one of the finest players in the nation.

“He’s the best corner in the country, hands down,” declares Wolverine safety Ryan Mundy.

But Jackson did have a remarkable childhood. He never knew his father, lived only occasionally with his mother and was raised primarily by aunts and uncles, and even his big brother.

At one point, he moved into the home of a family friend, “Uncle Bob,” who made room for him in the basement.

Sports, especially football, were as much a release for the boy as classes while he was at Sharon High in the rough western Pennsylvania city of the same name. He excelled at both.

“He was never in trouble at school and I don’t know if he was ever even late,” recalls Jim Wildman, his football coach and the school’s former athletic director. “You could probably count on one hand the number of days he missed, and as I recall, he got no worse than Bs.”

On Saturday against Texas at the Rose Bowl, Jackson will take the field for the last time as a college football player. Fans will witness not only a clinic by one of the game’s premier technicians at cornerback -- only 15 of 41 passes thrown his way this season were completed -- but the actions of a man who used adversity as motivation to make life better.

Staying in college for his senior season, he says, was one of the best decisions he ever made. But perhaps even better was the decision he made while a junior in high school -- when things went from bad to worse. His brother had been stabbed outside a dormitory at Temple University in Philadelphia and was hospitalized with a life-threatening injury.

Jackson wished to visit his brother but had no money, so he asked Wildman for a loan. Instead, Wildman bought two plane tickets and accompanied Jackson to Philadelphia, where they remained with Marko Jackson until his condition improved.

Back home in Sharon, Jackson thought long and hard about his future. Ultimately, he called Wildman again. “He said, ‘If I’m going to make it, I’m going to need somebody,’ ” Wildman said of the day that put his star defensive back on a straighter course in life.

Wildman and his wife, Karen, became those people, surrogate parents who gave Jackson his own room and the same freedoms and privacy most of his classmates enjoyed. They treated him as they had their three children, who were much older.

“I had two rules,” recalls Wildman, 57, who will be in Pasadena with his wife for Saturday’s game. “This isn’t a Holiday Inn and don’t lie to me.”

That was OK with Jackson.

Jackson is certainly no angel. In the summer of 2003, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a fight outside a party. A month earlier, as a minor, he had been cited for being in possession of alcohol.

Jackson maintains, and he is supported by his teammates and Coach Lloyd Carr, that the fight was an isolated incident contrary to his character.

“Marlin has had a lot of challenges in his life and I think he’s matured immensely here,” Carr says of a player named co-captain along with center David Baas. “I think he’s understood that if you really want to achieve, you have to take responsibility, and I think he’s done that. And I think he’s developed into a great leader.”

Wildman remembers Jackson as having a strong work ethic, working out on his own and spending extra time in the weight room. A four-year varsity starter in high school, he finished with 281 tackles and 18 interceptions. As a receiver, he caught 57 passes for 1,026 yards and 18 touchdowns. As a freshman at Michigan, he was fourth on the team in tackles. As a sophomore he started all 13 games and was a first-team All-American. He registered 51 tackles and had a team-high 18 pass breakups, including a school-record six against Washington.

Last season was one Jackson would rather forget. Carr asked him to move to safety and Jackson complied, but struggled at the position and missed four games and parts of others because of injuries.

Now back at his natural position, Jackson, who is on pace to graduate with a degree in general studies at the end of next semester, is a first-team All-American for the second time, regarded by pro scouts as one of the nation’s best -- and by opponents as someone to steer clear of.

“We don’t see many cornerbacks like him in the Big 12,” says Texas quarterback Vince Young. “He’s real strong and physical. He plays press in the face of the receivers and does a good job of getting his hands on them.

“We’ve been telling our defensive backs to play tight on the line in practice. We want them to grab and hold and make it tough on our receivers to get them ready for Jackson.”

Child’s play, it isn’t.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

THE ROSE BOWL Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Payout: $14.5 million. 2 p.m., Channel 7

MICHIGAN (9-2)

LEADERS

* Passing: Chad Henne, 2,516 yards, 21 TDs, 131.1 rating

* Rushing: Mike Hart, 1,372 yards, 5.3 avg., 9 TDs

* Receiving: Braylon Edwards, 87 receptions, 1,221 yards, 12 TDs

TEAM LOG

Miami (Ohio) W, 43-10

at Notre Dame L, 28-20

San Diego State W, 24-21