By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

MOBILE, Ala. — It’s been quite some time since McKinley Jackson was able to play a football game so close to his hometown.
So when the former George County High standout takes the field in the annual Senior Bowl here in this Port City on Saturday afternoon, he wants to make it a memorable outing.
Jackson, a 6-foot-2, 325-pound defensive lineman, will suit up as a member of the American Team as it takes on the National Team Saturday afternoon at Hancock-Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama in the 75th renewal of this annual affair. He is expected to start up front for his squad.
“I grew up watching this game and all of the NFL greats that played in it,” Jackson said, in an interview after practice concluded Thursday afternoon. “It’s less than an hour from my hometown, and my mom and grandma have been able to come over this week and I got to spend some time with them so it’s been great.”

Jackson announced in December that he was declaring for the National Football League draft after spending the past four seasons at Texas A&M. The senior standout still had a season of eligibility because the 2020 pandemic year does not count against eligibility.
He started all 12 games this past season for the Aggies and recorded 27 tackles including five 1/2tackles for a loss, three sacks, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
“I feel like I had a good career at A&M,” Jackson added. “I felt like I progressed more each year and I also helped make other payers around me get better. That’s why I was able to get a chance to play in a game like this.”
In his four seasons combined, Jackson appeared in 40 games with 24 starts and totaled a combined 91 tackles, 15.5 tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks, two passes defended, two fumbles recoveries and a forced fumble.
Jackson came to A&M as a four-star recruit from GCHS as the Aggies won a fierce recruiting battle with Alabama for his services.
He emerged as a dominant force in 2022 when he posted 37 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks and three quarterback pressures despite missing all of four games and most of two others.

Jackson, who was used primarily as a nose tackle for the Aggies, will get more time at three-technique in Mobile to show off his explosive skills in the trenches.
“I think I’ve made the most of my opportunity here this week,” Jackson continued. “I was able to showcase my skills and take advantage of competing in front of all of these NFL coaches and scouts. Hopefully, I made some money for myself in the process.”
Jackson will be hoping to make a positive impression on an NFL team in search of a starting noseguard. His final game playing about this distance from his hometown came when he was named the Most Valuable Player for the Mississippi Squad in the 2019 Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Football Classic that was played in Hattiesburg.
“I think has a chance to have a monster week here,” Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy said. “He was a guy, when I was watching tape over the summer, I thought we might have a hard time getting to the Senior Bowl because that’s how talented I think he is. I thought he was a guy who could be in the middle-of-the-first-round conversation, and sometimes when their players are projected to go there, agents don’t want them to come here.”
Jackson is on the American team, which has 35 of the 37 players players from the Southeastern Conference in this year’s game.
“It’s an honor to be invited to play here,” Jackson concluded. “When I was young and watching this game I always wanted to follow in their footsteps and play in it and then make it to the NFL. Hopefully, that’s next.”