Jackson recently visited San Quentin, the most famous active prison in California, to talk to inmates, listen to their stories and them to his, shoot some hoops.
Oakland Tribune columnist Monte Poole accompanied Jackson to his recent visit to the prison. “I see people here who walked the same streets I did, trying to survive,” says Jackson, who grew up in inner-city Los Angeles and attended Long Beach Poly High. “I’m a part of that. But I had to learn how to put it to the side.
“All my life, it was thrown to me. ‘You’re that dude. You’re going to take it to the NFL.’ Now I want to make a difference.”
Jackson had visited the prison previously after he began at Cal, and promised he would be back again.
“You’re going to see us again,” Jackson says. “We will be coming back here.”
Note: DeSean Jackson continues to make annual visits to visit the inmate population at San Quention during the off season without being accompanied by reporters, cameras and is well-respected among the general population in the prison including some on death row.
DeSean Jackson Foundation 