It is quite difficult to find a completely vacant piece of land that is in a prime location to build a football stadium. When you’re building a house as big as the one that Jerry built, the task is almost impossible. That is why a number of homes needed to be torn down in order for Jerry Jones to build the new Cowboys Stadium. Tearing down homes to build a new venue is not unusual, but the fact that Fred Jackson used to live in one of those houses makes it slightly more interesting.
“The house I grew up in was torn down to put the stadium up, so I got a little bit of home-field advantage that way,” Jackson, whose house was torn down in 2004 during the early phases of construction, explained in a video on the Buffalo Bills website. “It was kind of weird because you were, you know, like, ‘Pretty cool. They’re going to put up a stadium up here, but I gotta move.’ It was one of those things where you were sad to move, because it was where you grew up and we were looking for a new house and all these things, but the goal was always to get into the NFL, and if I get there, hopefully I’ll get to play in this stadium one day.”
Jackson has definitely gotten there. In fact, his emergence as one of the best overall offensive players in the NFL this season has been quite the surprise — even to his wife. Jackson and his family were Cowboys fans growing up, so the fact that he could be running for a touchdown over the ground his house used to exist on has to drum up some weird emotions.
“Definitely during pregame, when I’m out there getting loose, trying to figure out, piece it together, you know, ‘This is my friend Jason’s house, would be right here where I am now,'” he said when asked if it would be on his mind Sunday. “Things like that, I’m sure, will be going through my head during pregame, and I’ll definitely be looking for stuff like that.”
If Jackson can turn the unique situation into added motivation, the Bills could certainly use it. The AFC East is wide open with three teams tied for first and the Bills have cooled off significantly since their hot start. Perhaps this will be the spark he and his teammates needed to get back on track.
Chest bump to Shutdown Corner for sharing the story.
