The story of new Eagle Malik Jackson, Super Bowl tickets and a retired Marine
Plus, everything else you need to know about the defensive tackle.

Malik Jackson played three seasons for the Jaguars, a relative blip in our warp-speed lives. His stay was short in Florida, but he left quite an impression on Len Loving, a retired Marine colonel whose 32 years of service included combat operations in Vietnam.
Loving runs the Five Star Veterans Center in Jacksonville, a 40-bed facility that caters to the needs of former military personnel, particularly those who served after 9/11. Jackson had an affinity for Five Star.
“Malik was very kind to us in many ways,” Loving said. “He would talk to our veterans and encourage them to continue treatment and get back to independent living. You could see how much that meant to them.”
Jackson is signing a three-year deal with the Eagles. He reinforces a defensive line depleted by the departures of Michael Bennett, Tim Jernigan and likely Haloti Ngata.
» ANALYSIS: Pressing QBs on the inside is a necessity in today’s NFL. That’s why the Eagles signed Malik Jackson.
Jackson was the Jaguars’ nominee for the 2017 Walter Payton Man of the Year award, which is given for excellence on the field and in the community. Eagles’ defensive end Chris Long won the award in 2018.
Nominees get $50,000 for their favorite charities, plus two tickets to the subsequent Super Bowl. Jacksonville would have played in that Supe if not for an awful fourth quarter in the AFC Championship loss at New England.
Still, Jackson had tickets and asked Loving, the CEO of the veterans facility who won a bronze star during his Vietnam tours, to do him a favor.
“He gave the tickets to me and said, ‘Colonel, I really appreciate everything that you do. Please use these tickets yourself or have your family use them,” Loving explained.
Jackson also kicked in $3,000 for expenses.
Loving gave the tickets to his sons Walter and Joey, who drove up to Minneapolis to see the ‘Philly Special’ and everything else that went along with the Eagles’ rousing championship win.
This past Christmas, Jackson called and asked the Colonel to bring 10 of his residents to a local Sports Authority. The burly defensive end was giving each $1,500 gift cards to use for holiday shopping.
“The thing I appreciate most is that he set his own time limit to spend with us. He never let anyone tell him it was time to go,” Loving said. “Our work and our facility intrigued him. The citizens of Philadelphia are getting a first-rate human being.”
» READ MORE: What our beat writers think of the Malik Jackson signing
Ten things to know
Getting to know Malik Jackson.
» Had a subpar 2018 season (3.5 sacks) and lost his starting job after setting a career-high with eight sacks and going to the Pro Bowl in 2017. The entire Jaguars team was out of sorts last season after nearly making the Super Bowl the year before.
» Played his first two seasons at USC before transferring to Tennessee for two more years. Was first-team all-SEC as a senior. Mississippi State’s Fletcher Cox was the other first-team defensive tackle.
» Slipped to the fifth round of the 2012 draft, taken at No. 137 overall by Denver.
» Has played eight NFL seasons and in 117 consecutive games. He missed two games as a rookie when he played mostly special teams. Spent 2012-15 with the Broncos, where he won a Super Bowl following the 2015 season.
» Scored the game’s first touchdown of Super Bowl 50 following Von Miller’s strip-sack of Cam Newton. Was also in the scrum for the crucial Newton fumble late in the game, which Newton did not dive for. It was recovered by Denver’s T.J. Ward.
» Video: Malik Jackson scores a touchdown in the biggest game of his life
» Instagram handle is TheMalikJackson, hasn’t tweeted since 2016, but can be found @TheMalikJackson.
» Twin brother Marquis played at Texas Southern. Also has a younger sister named Starra.
» His charitable foundation, Malik’s Gifts, helps out numerous causes. Has hosted dinners for Gold Star Wives and in 2017 paid the adoption fees for 181 pets.
» Jackson’s father, Jodie, passed away suddenly in 2014 at the age of 47 while Malik was in training camp.
» “We’re supposed to be strong, not have any bad feelings, money will take care of everything,” Jackson opened up to the Denver Post. "One thing about that is people don’t understand how taxes work. And two, we can’t take a week off or days off to grieve. You come in to work, put that game face on, leave your problems at home, stay strong.”