By Mark Eckel | Engagement Insider
Steven Jackson has played 10 seasons in the NFL, rushed for over 1,000 yards in eight of those seasons, made three Pro Bowls and was twice named to Associated Press' All-Pro team.
As the days lead up to the Atlanta Falcons' running back's first art show: ''Running Back, Looking Forward'', he feels like a rookie again.
"The anticipation is similar to your rookie year,'' Jackson said. “You're trying to show you're worthy of being selected by your team after all the accolades you received in college. And then, of course, you want to take it further.''
Jackson, who always admired and appreciated art from the time he was a child growing up with the hopes of working for Disney one day, will host an art exhibit July 17-20 at Hamilton-Selway Fine Art in Los Angeles.
The show will consist of photographs he's taken while traveling around the world. It's the start of something that Jackson hopes will continue long after he gains his final yards and scores his final touchdowns.
"It's definitely something I plan to pursue, it's one of the things I plan on doing when I'm finished playing, whenever that is,'' Jackson said.
This will be Jackson's 11th season and his second with Atlanta, after nine years with the St. Louis Rams, who made him a first round pick of the 2004 draft and who he repaid by becoming the franchise's all-time leading rusher.
While retirement is one of the furthest things from his mind, his art and the upcoming show debuting his new career are very much on the forefront.
"I'm very excited,'' Jackson said. “This is my first chance as an artist to display my photographs for the world to see. You could put them on line or send them out, but to see them in person is totally different. You really have to see them in person.''
Jackson's love of art began at a very young age and when his mother enrolled him in Saturday morning art classes, where he began to sketch, it really took off.
"It taught me about perspective,'' he said. “And about looking at things in different ways and appreciating things that other people might overlook.''
As Jackson grew older and became a dominant force on the football field at Eldorado High School in his home town of Las Vegas and then in college at Oregon State, his art work was temporarily put on hold.
Still, as he traveled around the country and around the world he would collect photographs, sculptures, and paintings. His love and admiration of both art and architecture quickly came back to him.
"That passion resurfaced,'' he said.
Jackson then began to take photographs of what he saw. When he showed his work to his friend, and fellow artist, Michael Kalish, the wheels started to spin.
It was Kalish who recognized that Jackson's talent went beyond the football field.
"I've known Michael for about seven or eight years,'' Jackson said. "When he saw some of my work and suggested I do a show, at first I thought he was just being nice to me.
"Instead, he's given me the opportunity to do this. He said to me, 'you should share this with the world.' That's what I'm going to do.''
Through his travels, Jackson has admired the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the paintings of Picasso and the photography of fellow Las Vegas native Peter Lik. Now, he's going to have a chance for fans to admire him as an artist in the same vein they do as a football player.
And just as any good running back needs a good offensive line, Jackson has a team working with him to make sure the show is a success.
"My job is to be creative,'' he said. “My photos are going to be on display, but the show itself will have a lot of people involved getting it ready.''
The show is coming up shortly, and then a week later Jackson will be back in Suwanee, Georgia, with the Falcons for another training camp.
Has his success in football helped him at all as an artist?
"It can work against you,'' Jackson said. “Sometimes people don't take you seriously. They think you're a football player, not an artist. So you have that. I just want them to come out and see for themselves.''
If Jackson's second career is as successful as his first, we'll be seeing a lot of his photographs for a long time.
Having that competitiveness that made him so good at what he's done for the past 10 years, will also drive him in the future.
"That's how I am,'' Jackson said. “I want to excel no matter what I do.''