Eddie Jackson, the President of the 220 Quarterback Club, passed away, leaving Rattler Nation without a member of the FAMUly.Jackson, a 1964 graduate of FAMU, moved to Tallahassee from St. Petersburg. Jackson was as editor of the 1966 Rattler yearbook and worked for the FAMUAN while still a student. Jackson started working for athletics as the director of sports information in 1966 after graduating.
College Sports Communicators, formerly known as CoSIDA, ranked his football media guide as the eighth-best in the nation in 1966. Jackson was the director of sports information and worked with several legends, such as Alonso “Jake” Gaither.
Under Jackson’s direction, the public relations department at FAMU was ranked second only to UCLA in the country for the best news and information program when it was awarded the Silver Medal Award for Overall News and Information programs by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in 1992.
Following FAMU’s 1997 selection as the TIME Magazine and Princeton Review College of the Year, in 1998, FAMU President Frederick S. Humphries awarded Jackson the university’s first Presidential Award and named him Employee of the Year.
Before retiring in 2002, Jackson worked for 39 years at Florida A&M University in a variety of positions, including vice president for university relations, director of placement and career counseling, and director of university public relations.
Jackson wrote a 251-page book titled “Coaching Against The Wind” after retiring, continuing to demonstrate his pride and involvement with the Rattlers. The book attempted to capture the inspirational careers of six men who felt that football is a powerful complement to academic study and a symbolic game, helping student-athletes succeed outside of the college campus.
