Austin Jackson

Early life

Jackson grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and attended North Canyon High School, where he played defensive and offensive line on the school's football team and also was a member of the basketball and track and field teams. Jackson was rated a five-star recruit and the best collegiate prospect in Arizona as a senior and committed to play college football at the University of Southern California over offers from Washington and Arizona State.

College career

Jackson played in all 14 of the Trojans games as a true freshman, appearing as a reserve offensive lineman and playing special teams on the field goal unit where he played on both sides and blocked a kick against Colorado. He was named USC's starting left tackle going into his sophomore year and started all 12 of the team's games.

Jackson missed part of the summer practices going into his junior season due having surgery to donate bone marrow to his sister, who has Diamond–Blackfan anemia. He returned to practice in early August and worked his way back to playing shape in time to begin the season as the Trojans starting left tackle. Jackson was named the Pac-12 Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week for Week 2 after his performance, which included blocking a 43-yard field goal attempt, in a 45–20 win over #23 Stanford on September 7, 2019. He was named first-team All-Pac-12 at the end of his junior year. Following the 2019 season, Jackson announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared for the 2020 NFL draft. Jackson played in all 39 of USC's games during his collegiate career with 25 starts.

Personal life

Jackson's grandfather, Melvin Jackson, also played offensive line at USC and played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers. In the summer of 2019, Jackson donated bone marrow to his younger sister Autumn, who had a rare form of anemia.

He is currently dating McKayla Rain whom he shares one son with, born in 2023.