Memo to all Alabama defenders: Eddie Jackson will fight anyone who loses focus.
For the remainder of Jackson's career at Alabama, that message should probably be posted in the locker room, the training room and, most importantly, on the sidelines of the Crimson Tide. Alabama's senior safety will suffer no fools during football games.
It doesn't matter who is it is, or the circumstance, and the numbers on the scoreboard are irrelevant.
Jackson might push, shove, provoke or punch anyone who seems distracted during a football game. He didn't return to school for his senior year for anything less than perfection, apparently, and that point became clear in Alabama's first game of the football season. When teammate Ronnie Harrison lost focus momentarily in the second quarter, Jackson was there to help.
In the end, the two had to be separated.
"When you have a teammate who cares about you and is trying to help you," Saban said on Monday, "the response should be 'Thank you,' not 'Screw you.'"
In two of Alabama's last three games, Jackson has offered to physically alter the disposition of his fellow teammates during games.
In the semifinal of the 2016 College Football Playoff, Jackson nearly came to blows with linebacker Dillon Lee. Former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had to separate the teammates despite Alabama leading 38-0 with only a few minutes left in the game.
Why the reason for the fight?
"We got in a disagreement about keeping our shutout and not letting them drive down and score late in the game," Lee said at the time.
Moments after the scuffle, Lee regained his focus and recorded the interception that sealed the Cotton Bowl shutout of Michigan State.
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