Dreams of football yield to stardom in lacrosse
It’s in there. Somewhere. Alongside the other junk tossed in the glove box of his car, there’s one cherished treasure from Colton Jackson’s childhood.
He wrote the letter way back in eighth grade. It was done as homework, not prophesy. The middle-school assignment was this: Write a note to your future self, seal it and open upon leaving high school.
Nearly a decade ago, Jackson had a vision so strong he committed it to paper. He decided it would be cool to wear the crimson and gold of the University of Denver Pioneers as a star lacrosse player.
Well, well, well. Look at him now. Jackson is a 21-year-old midfielder for DU’s powerhouse team, which must win Saturday against Albany to punch a ticket to the semifinals of the national championship tournament.
Sitting in the stands of Peter Barton Stadium, as his teammates stretched on the field before practice, Jackson made a little confession. As a middleschool student, he cheated on
his original sports dream while penning that love letter to lacrosse.
“Growing up, football was my first passion. For sure,” Jackson said. “As a little kid, I didn’t play lacrosse. I played football.”
Football is king in Colorado. And he ruled. In the beginning, lacrosse was something Jackson did as a side gig. As a running back at Rock Canyon High School in Highlands Ranch, he was named most valuable player of the freshman team.
But, as a sophomore in high school, Jackson quit the game America loves best to specialize in lacrosse. It wasn’t easy.
“I would say football games are better than lacrosse games. There’s just something about being under the lights on a Friday night in high school,” said Jackson, re-living the pain of dumping his first love at age 15. “You really don’t have to think too much in football; it’s more a meathead mentality. But lacrosse practice is by far better than football practice. So being a lacrosse player is a lot better life, day-in and day-out.”
Football in America has been under siege, attacked by concerned doctors and loving parents and fright- ened former players, all wondering if our country’s favorite sport is worth the brain damage.
“With all the concussions, I would say lacrosse is probably a safer option than football. But that’s just my opinion,” Jackson said.
Health concerns didn’t chase him from football. It was the chance to excel at lacrosse. “I wasn’t going to be a running back for Alabama,” Jackson said. With the Pioneers, his 18 goals in 16 games rank third on a team perennially ranked among the top 10 of the nation’s elite lacrosse programs.
Participation in 11-man football at the prep level is down 4.6 percent since 2010, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations. During the same time frame, the number of teenage males playing lacrosse at school has increased by 23.4 percent.
But don’t get it twisted. Lacrosse isn’t at war with football. Those Friday night lights still shine brightly across the country, as there are nearly 10 prep athletes wearing football helmets for every one carrying a lacrosse stick.
Hey, the Pioneers know where they fit in this NFL town. Yes, Denver lacrosse, which won a national championship in 2015, is much closer to getting back to the top than the Broncos, who have slipped badly since winning Super Bowl 50. Nevertheless, we would rather debate whether Case Keenum is a legitimate NFL starting quarterback than celebrate DU senior Trevor Baptiste as the greatest face-off man in the history of NCAA lacrosse.
As DU coach Bill Tierney, a living legend in his sport, is fond of saying: “Lacrosse, as collegiate sports go, is a pimple on the butt of an elephant. But it’s our sport. And it’s huge to us.”
Football is the elephant. Football is cool. Football is America.
“I think winning a national championship in lacrosse would be just as cool as winning a national championship in football,” Jackson said.
There’s life after football and more than one way to become a champion, though.
Here’s my theory: The real reward is chasing the dream, rather than the size of the trophy.
See the reformed meathead wearing No. 10 for the Denver Pioneers lacrosse team? His name is Colton Jackson. And there’s proof of how big things can come from small dreams, locked away in the glove box of his car.