Not unlike the Delaware State and Norfolk State football players who will compete on an NFL field for the [first time on Thursday, October 30, at Lincoln Financial Field,](https://www.ticketmaster.com/delaware-state-hornets-football-vs-norfolk-philadelphia-pennsylvania-10-30-2025/event/020062C5A241826C) former Eagles center Jamaal Jackson's initial game on an NFL field also happened while he was playing for Delaware State, when it took on Bethune-Cookman in 2001. Coincidentally, it was also in Philadelphia, at Veterans Stadium.
"I think it's great for the schools and the programs. It gives them a lot of exposure," Jackson said. "We got a chance to play at the Vet, so it's kind of coming full circle. History is kind of repeating itself, but I guess on a grander stage, given the two coaches that are involved."
Coincidentally again, the two first-year head coaches involved, Delaware State's DeSean Jackson and Norfolk State's Michael Vick, were both teammates of Jackson on the Eagles.
Signing with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent in 2003, Jackson, an All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection as a senior, was in his fourth season on the active roster when wide receiver DeSean Jackson joined the team as a second-round draft choice out of the University of California in 2008.
"He was a good teammate. And with our coach at the time, Andy Reid, I mean, he did some things with that guy that I didn't know was possible for a receiver to do," Jamaal Jackson said. "That guy ran so many deep routes during practice, I didn't know how he was going to make it through camp.
"But somehow, he did, and it showed on Sundays. He was such a great tracker of the deep ball. And I think he's a Hall of Famer in my eyes. He had a storied career and was so great at it for such a long time."