Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 10:32 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
A couple of weeks from now, when Steven Jackson sits down with his parents, Steve and Brenda, and his coach, Mike Riley, to discuss his football future, he'll listen intently to what they have to say and then, most likely, do what his heart is telling him, just as he did four years ago.
That explains why Jackson carries the football for Oregon State instead of say, Nebraska or Tennessee, which also recruited him hard while he played at Las Vegas' Eldorado High, and why Brenda Jackson has had a permanent case of the sniffles during the past three football seasons.
In case you've never been there, it rains a lot in Corvallis. When I covered a UNLV game there in 1991, I had to catch the ark in Eugene.
Oregon State might be the only place where they use fathoms instead of yards in the game statistics. I remember Keenan McCardell going "deep" to catch a touchdown pass against the Beavers, and nearly drowning when his oxygen tank malfunctioned.
So if you were one of those who went slip sliding away on your way home from the office Thursday, blame it on Jackson. The Las Vegas Bowl committee is such a good host that it imported some freezing rain from the Pacific Northwest, just so Jackson, Beavers coach Mike Riley and OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis would feel comfortable at Thursday's news conference at the ESPN Zone.
Jackson wasn't quite as comfortable talking about the decision he will soon have to make, and that's whether to return to Oregon State for his senior season, where he'd probably be a darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate, or declare for the NFL draft, where he'd probably be a solid first-round pick.
"As far as my future, that'll be a decision for after the bowl game," said Jackson, stiff-arming any queries about which way he might be leaning as if they were Stanford cornerbacks.
"Coach Riley is a great guy, and I'm sure he'll help me make the right decision."
With his parents sitting in a nearby booth (but not within earshot), Jackson said all the right things about the value of a college education. Only he comes across so humble, I actually believed him.
"One of the things I wanted to accomplish by going away to school is becoming a better man, and I feel like I've done that," said Jackson, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound bettering ram who rushed for 1,396 yards during the regular season after piling up 1,690 -- the sixth-highest single-season total by a Pac-10 back behind only Marcus Allen, Ricky Bell, Charles White (twice) and O.J. Simpson -- as a sophomore.
"Getting a degree, that's something that's very important to me. And if I were to come back, I could help try to take my team to a Pac-10 title and a bigger bowl."
But if he were to leave, he'll become a millionaire overnight. At the same time he's forsaking his scholarship, he could endow about five more. And then he won't have to worry about slipping on the wet rug at Parker Stadium during the next 12 months and turning his ankle.
"He would be the first on my side of the family to graduate from college," said the elder Steve Jackson, a pit boss at Caesars Palace. "But this is his decision and it has been all along. We wouldn't do anything to deprive him of what he wants to do ... as long as he promises to go back and get (his degree)."
In Riley, at least Jackson will have somebody to turn to who can speak from experience about these matters. When it comes to "Should I Stay or Should I Go," Riley might be the next-best authority to The Clash.
Having spent three years as an NFL head coach with the Chargers, Riley can put Jackson in touch with people on that side of the fence, should he need a little more information before making his decision.
One of those might even be Keyshawn Johnson. Riley was USC's offensive coordinator under John Robinson when Johnson was confronted with the same choice that Jackson will have to make.
Johnson chose to return to school, and he did not turn his ankle during his senior season. Instead, he went on to become the first player selected in the draft.
So returning to school worked out just fine for Johnson. For a while, anyway.
"I think it would be great," Riley said about getting Jackson together with Johnson. "Keyshawn did a tremendous job getting all the information he could and it went right down to the end. It's the same thing Steven is doing now.
"But I've never been one to say 'do this' or 'do that.' I only got to work with Steven for one year, so if he decides to stay, it would be great. But if he was to go, he will always be part of the Beaver program."
Either way, Riley said, he expects the end result to be the same.
"He's going to be a great, great player in the NFL."
If Riley is the first person Jackson will consult before making his decision, I'd probably be the last. But in that the average NFL career only lasts 3.3 years, and that barring a flood of Biblical proportions (which is always a possibility in Corvallis), the Oregon State campus will still be standing long after he's through with pro football, I would advise Jackson to take the money and run.
And to catch the ball coming out of the backfield.
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