Texas A&M Football
“A&M is the best platform. When I was in high school, I played basketball and all sports. I was always hearing from other schools like Florida State and other schools I won’t mention. I took a visit to Texas A&M, and once I took that visit, I knew there was no other school for me. The platform and the network have been incredible. Graduating and being able to put Texas A&M on my resume – Texas A&M has a long reach. My first couple of jobs, I was hired because of my affiliation with Texas A&M. The educational system is second-to-none, especially for an athlete. They teach you so much in the classroom. The things I do now, as far as interviewing, speaking to staff and building teams – I learned all that in college. People are like, ‘How’d you get that experience?’ I tell them, ‘Honestly, I’ve been doing it my whole career at Texas A&M.’ So just that platform of the education system that it had to offer is one of my greatest achievements right now, because I build everything off of Texas A&M. That’s why it’s one of the best programs.”
“As I think now, I was smart enough to make a commitment and base it off of the school and what it could do for me long-term, rather than the temporary coaching situation. I knew my ability as a player. I knew I could go to any school. I think Dennis Franchione was at Alabama, and they recruited me. I could have gone anywhere in the state, anywhere in America. I was looking at long-term – where I wanted my life to end up at the end of the day. Coming into it, I knew football was not going to be something that lasted forever, so I wanted to have the backing of a program and a school that would help me develop who I am as a person, as a man, academically, socially, and mentally so that once I’ve finished and gotten into the second game of my life, which is just life itself, I’d be prepared.
So when Fran did come to my house, he didn’t have to do anything. I was already sold. I talked to RC Slocum. I talked to Ken Rucker. He came and spoke and said something that really touched me. He said, ‘How you do one thing is how you do everything.’ He told me a story about how his dad made him clean up something or sweep up something, and he said he was the best at what he did. From there, I was sold. My mom never told me, because she allowed me to make decisions on my own at the time, but she was sold as well. When you’re an athlete, you want to think about what the school can do for you long-term. You want to basically look at football and then after football, because football doesn’t last long no matter what level you’re at.”
“I made a decision to leave school early on my mindset. If you are trying to meet somebody else’s expectations, you’re always going to have to explain why you did something. I had my own expectations of myself. Although I was successful at A&M as far as football, my mental state and how I lived my life was not as successful as it should be. I made the decision to leave – I have a chapter in my book that talks about that called ‘We Created a Monster.’ Prior to that, I have a chapter on my development and an impression of my early life and how it eventually caught up with me. My older brother was sent to prison for a violent crime when he was 16. I was 10. My dad’s a diagnosed schizophrenic and just kind of left me and my family by ourselves. That early impression of what a man was and what a man should be kind of manifested later on, and it was right about as my college career began.
That’s the first time that you’re by yourself, and you don’t have that support system of your mom and your family and friends. You’re going into a new community, so that is one of the most important things. You want to find a coach and community that fits you, because sometimes it doesn’t always work out. I can use plenty of examples. You don’t always know what a person’s mental state is. I talked to Yemi Babalola. He’s one of the best guys I know, and we all know the decision that he made that affected his career. There are a lot of guys from the 2003 recruiting class. Jorrie Adams – you have to look at the mental state. A lot of times when you’re recruiting guys, it’s not just suburbs that you’re recruiting out of. You’re going to recruit the best of the best everywhere, and if you can play, they’ll find you. Coming from the community, we have a lack of leadership and mentorship in our communities. That’s one of the reasons that I want to focus on that with my company.
I’m definitely trying to give back and start a community. I’m transparent. I was a horrible father. I have a 14 year-old. She just made 14 last week. I was not in her life for four or five years. I didn’t call for her birthdays or anything. I would be in town and not even go see her. That was just the impression that my father made on me that I was fine without her and didn’t need her. I was okay, but that wasn’t the real story. I told myself I never wanted to be what he was, but I became exactly what he was. Currently, my daughter lives with me. She’s been living with me for the last two years. It’s just a big change that I’ve made in my life. It’s my mindset. I’m a different person. I’ve motivated myself to come from the bottom, and I think that comes from an athletic background as well.
A&M was a tough place to be. You had expectations to meet. When my daughter first came to live with me – I have a chapter in my book about bonding with her. I didn’t pick up at 14. I picked back up when she was one and two. I had to teach her how to walk again. I had to teach her how to talk. I had to teach her how to be loved. That’s a big portion of my life and what I’m seeing in our schools. I currently work at Forest Brook Middle School. It’s literally two blocks from where I grew up, so this is my community. I went to Humble High School because my mom wanted a better life for me, and you have to make that sacrifice. I felt that coming back here was just the right move for me.
As far as the kids go, I see the same thing that I went through. I see parents who are absent from their lives. I see fathers who aren’t there and mothers who aren’t able to take care of them or at work all the time so they can take care of them, but then you still don’t have anybody at home. That’s what my program is mostly about: mentorship. I’ve always been a big dreamer, and it’s going to be huge. I just believe it to be so, and nobody can tell me any different. That’s how I approached football. When I was playing, if I had my mind made up that I was going to whip your butt, there was no one that was going to stop me. But I didn’t have my mind made up the whole time. You know what I mean? I allowed my – other things manifested in my life at the time, and my focus wasn’t where it should be. But when you aim high and you fall, you’re still going to fall in the clouds. That’s kind of where it led up to me. When I got out of college, I was back where I started in high school. I had a hunger to be somebody.”
“The book will be released in June of 2016. I’m setting up all that now. I’m meeting with my other partner. I met with a publisher last weekend. This is not the last time that you guys are going to be talking to me, so I’ll definitely shoot you guys that information. There’s so much that goes on in our lives that I could stick on one story for two-and-a-half hours. But to show you where our lives are, I went from college and one of the greatest programs in the world back home. I needed a job, a way to take care of myself and my children. That was one of those things where that was game two. It was the first quarter, and I was down by ten points. If you know anything about football, you’re never down. You’re never out of the game until the clock hits 0:00. If you’re an Aggie, you know that we just run out of time. You know the saying. We have another game though.
I was in the first quarter, and I had to go back and get my teacher’s certificate. I knew that I wanted to work with children and students because of my brother and him not having the things that I had. I had more people in my life or guys in my life because of my ability. Who are you after that ability is taken away? You go through that as a college player at the pinnacle of your success and even in the NFL, and then you’re done. That’s why they say most college coaches who retire die within the next few years. You put so much into that. I had to pick myself back up. Being an athlete and being at A&M and seeing all the things that I had seen, it was easy to pick back up. I had the foundation and the network to do that. I knew that I could reach out to people. That’s just what I did, and I started teaching and mentoring.
My plan and my purpose got so big and so great that it reached its point. I would do things in my community for things or school, and people would be like, ‘You need to do this, because our kids need this.’ I was kind of hesitant and fearful, because I had to answer some questions that I didn’t want to answer at the time, but evolving and growing as a man and a human being, I addressed myself as a man and looked in the mirror and made some changes. That’s kind of what I focus on now. I realize as a man how much I was never taught as a boy, because I was never taught those things. Even just being a father – I was never taught how to be a father. Although I never wanted to be who my dad was, I did not know who a father was at all. I based raising my kids off of my dad who was non-existent. That was who I was.”
Aggie Flashback with former A&M DE Jason Jack
Key quotes from Jason Jack interview
“I’m really doing a lot with my life. Since I was at A&M, I’ve gone back to school. I received my Master’s in education in 2014. I’ve continued into teaching. I actually stepped away from coaching this year, and I’m doing some things that are really, really big. I just recently started a mentorship program, and I’m currently finishing up my book, The Jack of All Trades, which I’ll talk about more if I get time. Also, I’m doing motivational speaking through my company, Straight Jack. I can talk about that a little bit more as well, but I’m doing some really good things. I’m still working with the community and still trying to build myself along with others around me, so that’s pretty much what I’m doing right now.”“A&M is the best platform. When I was in high school, I played basketball and all sports. I was always hearing from other schools like Florida State and other schools I won’t mention. I took a visit to Texas A&M, and once I took that visit, I knew there was no other school for me. The platform and the network have been incredible. Graduating and being able to put Texas A&M on my resume – Texas A&M has a long reach. My first couple of jobs, I was hired because of my affiliation with Texas A&M. The educational system is second-to-none, especially for an athlete. They teach you so much in the classroom. The things I do now, as far as interviewing, speaking to staff and building teams – I learned all that in college. People are like, ‘How’d you get that experience?’ I tell them, ‘Honestly, I’ve been doing it my whole career at Texas A&M.’ So just that platform of the education system that it had to offer is one of my greatest achievements right now, because I build everything off of Texas A&M. That’s why it’s one of the best programs.”
“As I think now, I was smart enough to make a commitment and base it off of the school and what it could do for me long-term, rather than the temporary coaching situation. I knew my ability as a player. I knew I could go to any school. I think Dennis Franchione was at Alabama, and they recruited me. I could have gone anywhere in the state, anywhere in America. I was looking at long-term – where I wanted my life to end up at the end of the day. Coming into it, I knew football was not going to be something that lasted forever, so I wanted to have the backing of a program and a school that would help me develop who I am as a person, as a man, academically, socially, and mentally so that once I’ve finished and gotten into the second game of my life, which is just life itself, I’d be prepared.
So when Fran did come to my house, he didn’t have to do anything. I was already sold. I talked to RC Slocum. I talked to Ken Rucker. He came and spoke and said something that really touched me. He said, ‘How you do one thing is how you do everything.’ He told me a story about how his dad made him clean up something or sweep up something, and he said he was the best at what he did. From there, I was sold. My mom never told me, because she allowed me to make decisions on my own at the time, but she was sold as well. When you’re an athlete, you want to think about what the school can do for you long-term. You want to basically look at football and then after football, because football doesn’t last long no matter what level you’re at.”
“I made a decision to leave school early on my mindset. If you are trying to meet somebody else’s expectations, you’re always going to have to explain why you did something. I had my own expectations of myself. Although I was successful at A&M as far as football, my mental state and how I lived my life was not as successful as it should be. I made the decision to leave – I have a chapter in my book that talks about that called ‘We Created a Monster.’ Prior to that, I have a chapter on my development and an impression of my early life and how it eventually caught up with me. My older brother was sent to prison for a violent crime when he was 16. I was 10. My dad’s a diagnosed schizophrenic and just kind of left me and my family by ourselves. That early impression of what a man was and what a man should be kind of manifested later on, and it was right about as my college career began.
That’s the first time that you’re by yourself, and you don’t have that support system of your mom and your family and friends. You’re going into a new community, so that is one of the most important things. You want to find a coach and community that fits you, because sometimes it doesn’t always work out. I can use plenty of examples. You don’t always know what a person’s mental state is. I talked to Yemi Babalola. He’s one of the best guys I know, and we all know the decision that he made that affected his career. There are a lot of guys from the 2003 recruiting class. Jorrie Adams – you have to look at the mental state. A lot of times when you’re recruiting guys, it’s not just suburbs that you’re recruiting out of. You’re going to recruit the best of the best everywhere, and if you can play, they’ll find you. Coming from the community, we have a lack of leadership and mentorship in our communities. That’s one of the reasons that I want to focus on that with my company.
I’m definitely trying to give back and start a community. I’m transparent. I was a horrible father. I have a 14 year-old. She just made 14 last week. I was not in her life for four or five years. I didn’t call for her birthdays or anything. I would be in town and not even go see her. That was just the impression that my father made on me that I was fine without her and didn’t need her. I was okay, but that wasn’t the real story. I told myself I never wanted to be what he was, but I became exactly what he was. Currently, my daughter lives with me. She’s been living with me for the last two years. It’s just a big change that I’ve made in my life. It’s my mindset. I’m a different person. I’ve motivated myself to come from the bottom, and I think that comes from an athletic background as well.
A&M was a tough place to be. You had expectations to meet. When my daughter first came to live with me – I have a chapter in my book about bonding with her. I didn’t pick up at 14. I picked back up when she was one and two. I had to teach her how to walk again. I had to teach her how to talk. I had to teach her how to be loved. That’s a big portion of my life and what I’m seeing in our schools. I currently work at Forest Brook Middle School. It’s literally two blocks from where I grew up, so this is my community. I went to Humble High School because my mom wanted a better life for me, and you have to make that sacrifice. I felt that coming back here was just the right move for me.
As far as the kids go, I see the same thing that I went through. I see parents who are absent from their lives. I see fathers who aren’t there and mothers who aren’t able to take care of them or at work all the time so they can take care of them, but then you still don’t have anybody at home. That’s what my program is mostly about: mentorship. I’ve always been a big dreamer, and it’s going to be huge. I just believe it to be so, and nobody can tell me any different. That’s how I approached football. When I was playing, if I had my mind made up that I was going to whip your butt, there was no one that was going to stop me. But I didn’t have my mind made up the whole time. You know what I mean? I allowed my – other things manifested in my life at the time, and my focus wasn’t where it should be. But when you aim high and you fall, you’re still going to fall in the clouds. That’s kind of where it led up to me. When I got out of college, I was back where I started in high school. I had a hunger to be somebody.”
“The book will be released in June of 2016. I’m setting up all that now. I’m meeting with my other partner. I met with a publisher last weekend. This is not the last time that you guys are going to be talking to me, so I’ll definitely shoot you guys that information. There’s so much that goes on in our lives that I could stick on one story for two-and-a-half hours. But to show you where our lives are, I went from college and one of the greatest programs in the world back home. I needed a job, a way to take care of myself and my children. That was one of those things where that was game two. It was the first quarter, and I was down by ten points. If you know anything about football, you’re never down. You’re never out of the game until the clock hits 0:00. If you’re an Aggie, you know that we just run out of time. You know the saying. We have another game though.
I was in the first quarter, and I had to go back and get my teacher’s certificate. I knew that I wanted to work with children and students because of my brother and him not having the things that I had. I had more people in my life or guys in my life because of my ability. Who are you after that ability is taken away? You go through that as a college player at the pinnacle of your success and even in the NFL, and then you’re done. That’s why they say most college coaches who retire die within the next few years. You put so much into that. I had to pick myself back up. Being an athlete and being at A&M and seeing all the things that I had seen, it was easy to pick back up. I had the foundation and the network to do that. I knew that I could reach out to people. That’s just what I did, and I started teaching and mentoring.
My plan and my purpose got so big and so great that it reached its point. I would do things in my community for things or school, and people would be like, ‘You need to do this, because our kids need this.’ I was kind of hesitant and fearful, because I had to answer some questions that I didn’t want to answer at the time, but evolving and growing as a man and a human being, I addressed myself as a man and looked in the mirror and made some changes. That’s kind of what I focus on now. I realize as a man how much I was never taught as a boy, because I was never taught those things. Even just being a father – I was never taught how to be a father. Although I never wanted to be who my dad was, I did not know who a father was at all. I based raising my kids off of my dad who was non-existent. That was who I was.”
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