After toiling for years in obscurity, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson has turned himself into an up-and-coming talent. He used the same determination that once helped him work as a youth counselor while also earning $200 a week playing indoor football in 2004-05.
He also did it by convincing himself that the same scouts who previously thought an NCAA Division III star couldn't make it in the NFL were undeniably wrong. As Bills running backs coach Eric Studesville said, "Fred is extremely passionate about football and he has a great work ethic. If a guy has those things going for him, he's usually going to find himself on the right path."
Jackson is the subject of this column because he will be one of the keys to the Bills' success this season, especially early. For all the buzz generated by the arrival of controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, the Bills will need their running attack to stay productive when starting back Marshawn Lynch misses the first three games with a suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Here's where Jackson becomes even more important. A player who once couldn't even get a job in the Arena Football League will now team with Dominic Rhodes to help the Bills fill the void created by Lynch's suspension.
But while many people likely remember Rhodes mainly from his seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, Jackson isn't a familiar name outside of Buffalo. That fact might change this fall as Jackson hopes to expand on a solid 2008 season, when he produced 571 rushing yards, 317 receiving yards and three touchdowns as Lynch's backup.
"I'm really excited because I'm going to have more opportunities to make more plays," Jackson said. "I see myself as a role player here. Whatever the team needs, I'm willing to do it."
That attitude has served Jackson well when he's had chances to prove his value to the Bills. Last season, he made three starts in place of Lynch, and his final one produced a 27-carry, 136-yard effort in a season-ending loss to the New England Patriots. In 2007, Jackson had 15 carries in a win over the Miami Dolphins and responded with 115 yards. Those types of numbers eventually made the Bills believe Jackson should touch the ball more often this coming season, when he'll team with Lynch as part of a two-headed backfield.
What's amazing about this opportunity for Jackson is that few people would have predicted this when he left tiny Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Even though Jackson ran for 1,702 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior in 2002, NFL scouts saw a player who didn't seem cut out for their league. The 6-foot-1 Jackson was undersized at that time (he weighed about 195 pounds coming out of college) and his level of competition hurt his prospects, as well.
"The thing that I always kept hearing was that it would be too hard for me to make the leap from Division III to the NFL," Jackson said.
The only person with some NFL clout who did believe in Jackson's potential was Marv Levy, who graduated from and coached at Coe College before later becoming a Hall of Fame coach with the Bills from 1986 to '97. Though Levy was out of football when Jackson graduated, he encouraged Jackson to stay determined. That was helpful advice when Jackson spent two seasons playing for the Sioux City (Iowa) Bandits of the United Indoor Football League after a year out of football.
"I had a lot of support from my wife, my family and my friends, but Coach Levy was my biggest supporter," said Jackson. "He knew about me when I was playing indoor football, and he always told me that he wanted to get me a shot in the NFL."
Jackson admits those days weren't easy -- "At one point, I had kind of written off the idea of playing in the NFL" -- but he kept playing because he loved having the opportunity to compete. He ultimately kept his career alive just long enough to cash in on that relationship with Levy, whom the Bills hired as their general manager in 2006. After three years of hearing what he couldn't do in the NFL, Jackson showed up for a workout with the Bills in the spring of 2006. He quickly impressed them with his agility, his receiving skills and the fact that he had bulked up to 215 pounds since college.
The end result of that performance was a trip to NFL Europe that summer -- where Jackson led the Rhein Fire with 731 rushing yards -- and a chance to join the Bills' practice squad after his return to the U.S.
"Even though Fred was on the practice squad, he still studied and worked like a guy who was going to be playing," Studesville said. "If we asked him to play wide receiver on scout team, he did that. If we needed him to be a defensive back in practice, he did that. But every time he did something on the field, you always saw a little flash of something. It finally got to a point where we needed to see if he could do some things in a game."
Jackson hasn't looked back since his time arrived in 2007. Aside from a contract negotiation that got a little tense earlier this spring -- Jackson didn't attend voluntary offseason workouts until he received a four-year extension in May -- his time in Buffalo has been satisfying. One major reason for that is his friendship with Lynch.
"The competition we have among each other is something we work at on a regular basis," said Jackson, whose extension reportedly is in the $2 million-a-year range. "When he comes off the field, I don't want there to be any drop-off when I'm in there."
So don't be surprised if you start hearing more about Jackson this coming fall. The Bills see him and Lynch as a dangerous one-two punch, and Studesville said there could be games when Jackson might produce better overall numbers than his friend. One thing that is definitely certain is that Buffalo needs Jackson to be on top of his game when the season opens. And after everything he's been through, that's exactly where you can expect him to be.
Senior writer Jeffri Chadiha covers the NFL for ESPN.com.