The Meteoric Rise and Fall of One of Pro Football's Most Promising Corners—Monte Jackson

By John Turney 

You start your pro football career by making the All-Rookie team, and by your second season, you're everybody's All-Pro and one of the best at your position. Then, in your third year, you're a second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler for the second straight time.

Next stop: superstardom. Right? Not so fast.

Welcome to the sad story of Rams' and Raiders' cornerback Monte Jackson.

His first three years were similar to Hall-of-Fame cornerbacks Herb Adderley, Lem Barney and, roughly, "Night Train" Lane. They were also better than almost everyone who came before or since. But then it all stopped. The next six years he never made another All-Pro team, never went to a Pro Bowl and sometimes didn't start.

So what happened? Nobody knows.

His first three seasons, the 5-11, 189-pound Jackson was one of the league's most promising newcomers. But then something happened. By his fourth year he was disgruntled, demanding a trade that eventually happened. He was dealt to the Oakland Raiders where he proceeded to sink so deep into mediocrity that the ABC Monday Night Football crew mentioned it.

"Monte Jackson," Howard Cosell told America, "once considered, perhaps, as good a cornerback as there was in the league."

Hall-of-Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who shared the booth with Cosell, agreed, saying, "Not only was he considered that, Howard," Tarkenton said. "He was."

Key word: was.

"But he hasn't been that for the Raiders," said Tarkenton.

Nobody could have foreseen such a rapid decline when Jackson began his career with the Rams. Needing to upgrade their athleticism, they chose the speedy San Diego State star in the second round of the 1975 draft and, midway through that season, plugged him into the right-cornerback position after the starter was hurt.

Result? Not only was he a consensus All-Rookie pick; the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave Klein named Jackson to his second-team All-NFC. That may not sound like a big deal, but it was. Klein was part of a clique of writers who sought player evaluations by talking to teammates, opponents and coaches to gauge the league's elite players. 

Other writers in that group were Paul Zimmerman (then of the New York Post, and, later, Sports Illustrated); Murray Olderman of the Newspaper Enterprise Association; Larry Felser of the Buffalo News; Cliff Christl of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and a lesser-known but astute writer named Peter Pascarelli of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

But it was in 1976, Jackson's second season, that he became nationally known. And for good reason. Playing right cornerback most of the time (he sometimes moved to strong safety in the Rams' nickel defense among other spots), he was a menace. In the opener in Atlanta, for instance, he intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown -- the first of three that season.

Monte Jackson in Rams nickel defense as strong safety

Jackson as an off-ball linebacker in another version of nickel defense

Jackson as a slot cornerback in another variation of the nickel defense

By season's end, he totaled ten interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. Both led the NFL. For that, he was named to every major All-Pro team and was Football Digest's Defensive Back of the Year. He was king of the mountain among NFL corners, with a better year than future Hall-of-Famers Roger Wehrli, Mike Haynes, Mel Blount, Ken Riley, Lem Barney and Emmitt Thomas.

The next year he wasn't challenged as much, mostly because quarterbacks were rightfully wary. Nevertheless, he still intercepted five passes playing essentially the same roles -- corner in base defense and strong safety in nickel -- until injuries caused some reshuffling. Then, Jackson became a full-time cornerback.

He wasn't a consensus All-Pro as in 1976, but he did get attention -- making the Pro Football Writers' team and playing in his second Pro Bowl. But then ... poof! ... the lights began to dim.

His descent began in the months preceding the 1978 season when Jackson held out for more money and asked for a trade. He wanted to be sent to his adopted hometown of San Diego or to the New York Giants, where he could play with his brother, Terry. Though newly-named Rams' coach Ray Malavasi tried to talk him into staying, it didn't work. Jackson simply wanted out.

So the Rams accommodated him ... sort of.

He was traded, but not to the Chargers or Giants. He was sent to the Oakland Raiders in what was known as the "Lawrence Welk Trade" -- as in, "Ah one, and ah two, and ah three," referring to the first, second and third-round draft picks the Rams gained from the Raiders. With two future Pro Bowlers at cornerback in Pat Thomas and Rod Perry, Rams' GM Don Klosterman felt the club was in position to make a move. Plus, he had second-year pro Nolan Cromwell to play nickel safety.

So he pulled the trigger on a deal that netted one of the highest bounties ever for a cornerback. In 1983, the Raiders sent first, second and sixth-round picks to New England for Hall-of-Famer Mike Haynes. Then, in 2019, Jacksonville received two first-round picks and a fourth for Jalen Ramsey. 

Raiders' owner Al Davis coveted cover corners, and his own right cornerback, Hall-of-Famer Willie Brown, was 38 and entering his final year. Davis wanted a high-quality replacement ... a star ... and he thought he found one in Jackson.

He did not. Jackson was not only not the player he'd been in Los Angeles; he would never be a star in Oakland.

When he first arrived, the Raiders found he was out of shape, dropping to 180 pounds -- or 15 pounds under his normal playing weight -- and lacked his usual strength. Nevertheless, he soon was starting in place of Brown, though not playing as he did in L.A.

No problem, 1979 would be better, right? Wrong.

Jackson spent the offseason lifting weights to gain weight and strength. This time, however, he showed up at camp weighing a whopping 225 pounds, and reporters called him "fat." The weight gain coincided with a newly painful knee, an injury that dated back to college and probably kept him from being a first-round pick.

The media thought the pain stemmed from excess weight; the Raiders suggested it was all "in Jackson's head." Finally, the Raiders' medical staff diagnosed a cartilage tear and scheduled Jackson for arthroscopic surgery. However, the procedure revealed something worse: He had a congenital knee defect that could not be corrected.

When he returned to the lineup, he was beaten repeatedly on the field by opponents and off it by the Oakland media. 

The knee continued to bother him during the Raiders' Super Bowl season of 1980, and though he reported to camp at his ideal weight of 195 pounds ... too light, too heavy or just right ... it didn't matter. He still struggled to cover receivers he once blanketed with ease.

By November, he lost his job to another former Ram, Dwayne O'Steen, who would never be on anyone's All-Pro ballot. And when he did get on the field, it was in sub-defenses where he wasn't even the nickel back. Granted, he played in the Raiders' 27-10 victory in Super Bowl XV, he contributed little. 

Eventually, he got his right cornerback position back, but it wasn't until October, 1981, a full year after he was benched for O'Steen. Result? No change. The former All-Pro was "just a guy," with the 1982 strike year another of obscurity. In their fifth year with Jackson, Raiders' coaches were perplexed. They simply didn't know what made him tick.

"(He has) all the physical tools to be a great player," the team's secondary coach said, who added that Jackson's "understanding of his position rivaled that of anyone I ever coached."

He also said he was never sure Jackson wanted to be a Raider. 

He probably didn't. Just as he didn't want to be a Ram. So the Raiders surrendered, sending him back to the Rams for Pat Thomas, who by then had knee issues of his own. Failing to make the final cut, Jackson nevertheless was re-signed by L.A. when starting cornerback cornerback Kirk Collins pulled a hamstring in Week 4.

Collins had been having his own breakout year -- not unlike Jackson's in 1976 -- with five interceptions to open the season. And, not unlike Jackson, he seemed headed for stardom. But a routine medical check-up revealed throat cancer, and, sadly, he died the following year. 

Jackson, meanwhile, was worse in his second bow with the Rams than he was at any time with the Raiders and was waived after five games. Turning to the USFL, he practiced four days in January, 1984, with the New Jersey Generals before walking away, reportedly because he didn't think he could make the team.

So, what went wrong in Oakland? How did a career with so much promise, so much potential, end up so diminished? Even his fellow Rams' teammates don't know. They marveled at his abilities but weren't sure he loved the game.

It's possible he enjoyed weight-lifting more. He and Rams' strongman running back Cullen Bryant liked to lift together. But he probably went too far in 1979 when he became musclebound with the Raiders, something that could've contributed to his lack of productivity that year.

"He could bench press 395 (pounds)", said Hall-of-Fame defensive Jack Youngblood. "That's amazing for a guy who was his size. Let me tell you, he was a strong kid. And he could run."

Another part of his demise in Oakland may have been what he was asked to do by the Raiders' coaches. Basically, they wanted him to play what he called "aggressive and unrelenting" football. One problem: That wasn't his game.

"I'm not a physical corner," he told the San Francisco Examiner's Frank Cooney in 1979. "I like to play off my man, play soft give him a cushion. I like to let the quarterback throw the ball because I feel they are going to make mistakes, and I am going to get some interceptions. 

"But here they like you to play close and harass them and discourage them from throwing the ball. So I had to fit my style of play into Oakland's, and it's not been easy."

No matter what the reason was, it derailed a career that, for the first three years at least, was superb as anyone's out there. With Malavasi as his defensive coordinator, Monte Jackson could cover wide receivers, tight ends, running backs ... anything coaches asked or demanded.

Yes, his ball skills could have been much better (Rams' coaches ascribed five dropped interceptions to him in 1976 ... think about what might have been!), but no one in the NFL intercepted more passes in his two All-Pro seasons. Plus, no one returned more picks for scores.

So while the Monte Jackson who played with the Raiders is probably worth forgetting, the Monte Jackson who played with the Rams is well worth remembering. 

That Monte Jackson was a great player.