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Over seven seasons as a Chicago Bears safety, Eddie Jackson has seen a little bit of everything. Jackson has won a division championship and been to the playoffs twice. He has been part of three losing seasons and a 14-game losing skid.
He saw the GM who drafted him (Ryan Pace) fired in January 2021 and is now playing for his third head coach in Matt Eberflus and his fifth position coach in Andre Curtis.
Jackson was an All-Pro in 2018 and named to the Pro Bowl in two consecutive seasons. He has also battled injuries and inconsistency and went two full seasons without an interception.
His experience and perspective have remained valuable inside Halas Hall and his voice has always resonated, establishing him as a team leader who has been willing to speak up during the tough times as much as he has been talkative during the team’s successful surges.
On Thursday, Jackson was honored at Halas Hall as the 2023 recipient of the Jeff Dickerson Good Guy Award, an honor presented annually by the Chicago chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association to recognize a member of the Bears organization who has been courteous, professional and open to the media.
“As players,” Jackson told a room of assembled reporters, “we understand you all have jobs to do. So if we can help that and keep that in a respectful manner, we’re here for it.”
The Good Guy Award was renamed in 2022 to honor longtime ESPN Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson, who was known by peers, players, coaches and executives alike as an easygoing and hardworking reporter with a welcoming demeanor and a kindhearted spirit. Dickerson died on Dec. 28, 2021, of colon cancer. He was 43.
Dickerson’s parents, George and Sandy, were on hand at Halas Hall on Thursday and Jackson addressed them when receiving his honor.
“The times I met your son, it was always a great conversation,” he said. “He was a very humble, nice, respectful guy. You guys did a fine job raising him. So I’m honored to accept this award.”
Previous Good Guy Award winners have included Cole Kmet (2022), Robert Quinn and Tashaun Gipson (2021), Mitch Trubisky (2020), Allen Robinson (2019), Prince Amukamara (2018), Zach Miller (2017), Tracy Porter (2016), Ryan Mundy (2015), Matt Slauson (2014) and Josh McCown (2013).
Jackson, one of the veteran leaders of a rapidly improving defense, has retained a significant presence inside the Bears locker room and was recognized formally Thursday for his willingness to consistently make himself available plus his natural engagement with reporters, whether it be speaking on team matters, football questions or locker room small talk.
“I feel like it’s needed,” Jackson said. “Especially when you have the younger guys, the guys in the locker room who look at you as a leader. I feel like your response is held to a higher standard than someone else’s. So I feel like it was always meant for me to speak.”
With his future in Chicago in question beyond this season, Jackson was asked Thursday if he had reflected on the possibility that Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons could be his last time playing at Soldier Field as a Bear.
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“Not really,” Jackson said. “I’m living in the moment, man. I’m appreciating the guys and just being around Tremaine (Edmunds) and TJ (Edwards), D-Walk (DeMarcus Walker) and all the new guys and new faces on this team and (valuing) all those relationships we’ve built within this year. It’s crazy. So I haven’t really thought about that.
“Lord willing, I hope I’m here next year. But God always has a plan. So I feel like I’ll always land on my feet. I hope it’s here. I know how it works in the business. I wish I could be here my whole entire career. But we know how this thing works. So you have to live in the moment. I’m guaranteed two more games as a Chicago Bear. So I’m going to live in that moment and appreciate that moment.”
Jackson called this the craziest of his seven seasons with the Bears, a year that included an 0-4 start; the abrupt September resignation of defensive coordinator Alan Williams for conduct-related issues; the October firing of running backs coach David Walker; multiple high-profile in-season trades; and, recently, a resurgence for the defense.
“When you go through troubles, trials, tribulations in life,” Jackson said, “at the end of that tunnel there is always light. I feel like there is something special ahead with this team, man.”
Jackson hopes to be part of that and emphasized the appreciation he has for his time with the Bears.
“It means everything,” he said.