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Throughout the entirety of his career, Steven Jackson was one of the best running backs in the entire NFL. While Jackson played for the St. Louis Rams, you could almost always count on him to get 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Jackson has not played in the NFL since 2015, though, so what is he up to now?

Steven Jackson proved how talented he was at Oregon State

Lining up in Oregon State’s backfield from 2001 through 2003, Steven Jackson proved he was one of the top running backs in the country. He only had 390 yards on 74 attempts during his freshman season in 2001, but he became a star in 2002. 

Jackson ran for 1,690 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2002. He then had another big year as a junior as he ran for 1,545 yards and 19 touchdowns. Jackson also became a weapon in the passing game in 2003 as he caught 44 passes for 470 yards and three touchdowns that season. His total yards from scrimmage increased from 1,855 his sophomore season to 2,015 in his junior year. 

His dynamite career with Oregon State led to Jackson becoming the top running back prospect in the 2004 NFL draft. 

Becoming a Pro Bowler with the St. Louis Rams

Former St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson was one of the best RBs in the NFL. What ever happened to the Rams legend?
Running back Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams runs up the field during a game. | David Welker/Getty Images

Jackson was the first running back to be selected in the 2004 NFL draft. The St. Louis Rams ultimately selected him with the 24th overall pick that year. Jackson had a decent rookie season in 2004 as he ran for 673 yards and four touchdowns. However, he was one of the most consistent backs in the league starting in 2005. 

From 2005 through 2012, Jackson ran for 1,000 or more rushing yards each season. Like his time at Oregon State, he was also a weapon in the passing game. In 2006, Jackson ran for a career-high 1,528 rushing yards. He also had 90 catches for 806 yards. He ultimately led the entire NFL with 2,334 yards from scrimmage that season and he earned his first Pro Bowl selection. 

Throughout his career, Jackson earned three Pro Bowl selections (2006, 2009, and 2010). He ultimately ran for 11,438 career rushing yards and 69 touchdowns. That’s in addition to catching 461 career passes for 3,683 yards. After playing with the Rams for nine seasons, Jackson played with the Atlanta Falcons for two seasons. He then played in two games with the New England Patriots in 2015. 

Jackson has not played in the NFL since 2015. 

Jackson is now mentoring young players

In July 2019, Steven Jackson signed a one-day contract with the Rams so he could retire as a Ram. Despite only being on contract for one day, Jackson actually said on Twitter that the NFL requested a random drug test from him. 

Additionally, Jackson was a mentor to running backs at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine. 

“The mentorship role that the league implemented this year was the added touch that I believe all rookies or participants will benefit from,” Jackson told theRams.com. “I wish I would have had it … They’re going to be combated with some things that they never thought they’d be challenged with. But the thing about it is, just continue to be consistent and show up daily. And with that consistently and showing up daily, those things work themselves out and they become wiser and smarter from it and are able to anticipate what may happen in the future.”

Steven Jackson

Jackson is pretty active on social media too. During this past season, he tweeted out videos, using the hashtag #QuickHitsWithSJ39, where he gave his thoughts on certain topics. He also occasionally writes for his website, SJ39.com. This is what he wrote about Andrew Luck’s retirement in August 2019. “Initially, like most sports fans, I was shocked. What shocked me more than the news itself was the nature of how it came out, in a tweet from Adam Schefter … But once I thought about it, I felt bad for Andrew Luck. To be robbed of the opportunity to do something like this on your own terms, it stings. When a decision of that magnitude is made, you have a certain way you want things to play out in your head. He had that rug pulled out from underneath him.”

Steven Jackson was one of the best running backs in the NFL during his playing days. Now, he is taking his experiences to help younger athletes and to just inform the world about things in general. It will be interesting to see what else Jackson does with his life moving forward.

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David Wysong

David Wysong began his sportswriting career in 2013 while still in high school and joined Sportscasting in 2020, where he channels his die-hard passion for the NFL (Indianapolis Colts), NBA (Cleveland Cavaliers), college football (Ohio State), and MLB (Cincinnati Reds) into covering the NFL, NBA, and LeBron James.

David’s inspiration comes from pursuing his childhood dream to write about sports. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of The News Record, the student newspaper at the University of Cincinnati, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a double minor in electronic media and sports management, and the University of Cincinnati service to journalism award. David was a Society of Professional Journalists Region 4 Mark of Excellence finalist for in-depth reporting at The News Record and an Ohio Associated Press Media Editors Division I Best Sports Writer finalist at the Chillicothe Gazette.