Vol. CXXII Issue 6
Stetson University I DeLand, Fla.
Defensive back Trezdun Jackson gives
stranger at Wal-Mart $100 to buy groceries
for her and her children
Sean McKnight
Sports Editor
It seems as though the college
and professional football world
has been surrounded by scandal
lately. All we ever see and hear in
sports anymore are the revelations
and allegations of football players
mistreating women.
The headlines have been appalling: lingering sexual-assault
allegations against FSU's star
quarterback Jameis Winston; a fe-
■mate co\te%e student accusing and
later retracting charges of sexual
battery against UF's quarterback
Treon Harris; the dreadful video of
Ray Rice knocking his future wife
unconscious in a casino elevator;
and the conviction of defensive
star Greg Hardy of the Carolina
Panthers for beating up and threatening to kill his former girlfriend.
As an avid, some would say
rabid, college and pro football fan,
to see players who I had formerly respected and revered resort to
such heinous acts has slowly made
me lose faith in football. That was,
until I came across the story of
Stetson's very own defensive back
Trezdun Jackson and the email
from a woman who was not accusing a football player of a violent
crime, but thanking him for an act
of kindness.
"I have been blessed with
the most generous act of kindness
my soul has ever witnessed," the
woman wrote in her email to Stetson's Athletic Department. "I am a
local DeLand resident who is very
grateful for what I have, but to be
honest to say, I don't have much.
While I was finishing up some
shopping with my five children at
Wal-Mart, I went to the checkout
counter and was informed my food
stamps were not valid, and I did
not have $20 to my name. I immediately burst into tears and begged
the cashier for mercy when out of
nowhere a young man wearing a
Stetson football shirt handed $100
and left his groceries behind him. I
[found out later] the young man's
name was Trezdun Jackson. I was
so overwhelmed with this act that
1 didn't really have a chance to
properly thank him. Please relay
this message to the young man
Photo courtesy: gohatters.com
and let him know that his help
will never be forgotten, and we are
more than extremely grateful for
the money he gave us "
In a day and age when there
is upheaval and complaints among
athletes in the Power-5 conferences and at big-time institutions
for not being compensated enough
for playing college football, Stetson's players actually pay the
school for the opportunity to play
football and receive an education.
Instead of coming across as
angry mean-spirited individuals,
Stetson's players not only appear
thoughtful and big-hearted, but
also have character befitting of
fine educated men.
Jackson and his teammates
apply for scholarships, grants, and
loans to pay their way through
school just like the rest of us here
on campus. They appreciate the
opportunity, not the right, to play
the sport they love and enjoy.
Jackson had a chance to speak
with a reporter from the Orlando
Sentinel about why he did what he
did: "The items in my cart were irrelevant. She had kids she was trying to feed. You could tell she was
having a rough time of it. 1 didn't
really think about it; it just seemed
like the right thing to do."
Although this refreshing story will probably not get national
coverage on a news network such
as ESPN, it is nice to see football
players treat people with kindness
and respect.
"Men are supposed to protect
women, not abuse them," Jackson said. "I love my mother and
my sister, and it's hard for me to
understand how a man could hit a
woman like Ray Rice did. It ruins
your image of NFL players. I don't
understand how you could be living a dream and then throw it away
by hitting your wife. That's crazy."
With all of the violent crimes
reported in the news recently, it's
seldom we get to hear the true
song of sports anymore. Then Trez
Jackson came along-a great guy
with a bright future who exudes
his principles and character on a
daily basis.
"Thank God for people like
him," the woman wrote in her
email. "We are now big Stetson
fans."
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