Matthew Jackson (American football)

Matthew Alexander Jackson (born November 9, 1998) is an American football safety for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Kentucky.

Early life
Jackson was born on November 9, 1998. He attended Hillsboro High School and competed in both football and track and field. As a junior in 2015, he had 39 total stops, an interception, and two defensive touchdowns. The following season, he was named team captain and led the squad with 64 tackles, additionally having two interceptions, one of which he returned for a 100-yard touchdown. At the same time, he won the city long jump championship while competing in track and field and participated at the state tournament. He committed to play college football for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels over several other FCS offers.

College career
As a true freshman at Eastern Kentucky in 2017, Jackson redshirted. He saw limited action over the next two seasons, having 11 tackles in 11 games in 2018 and 15 tackles in 10 games in 2019 while appearing mostly on special teams. He saw his first major action in 2020; starting at linebacker, he recorded a team-leading 79 tackles, as well as eight TFLs and 2.5 sacks, in nine games, three of which were played against FBS opponents. The following season, Jackson posted 102 tackles, 11 TFLs, eight pass breakups, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in 11 games played, earning all-conference honors, being a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award for best FCS defensive player, and winning Phil Steele's ASUN Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award. In his final year, 2022, he led Eastern Kentucky with 87 tackles and also compiled 7.5 TFLs, two fumble recoveries and two sacks on his way to being named all-conference and a third-team All-American by Stats Perform.

Professional career
After going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Jackson was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent. He was one of five undrafted rookies to make the team's final roster. He was waived on November 18 and re-signed to the practice squad three days later. He was promoted to the active roster on January 6, 2024.