You know how dads are.
Fathers sometimes can’t help but think they know best.
“My dad used to watch me from the sidelines,” said Marvin Austin Jr., a Broncos defensive tackle. “He’d say: ‘You need to be doing this. That guy should be doing this.’ All right, Dad. You suit up and go out there and see how easy it is.”
You know how dads are. Dads can be tough on their sons. Jodie Jackson used to coach the Pop Warner teams for his twin sons, Marquis and Malik Jackson.
“My dad was around every second,” said Malik Jackson, a Broncos defensive end and tackle. “Teaching me the game. I liked to be around my friends, but my dad was out there, day in and day out. It kind of (stunk) in a way because he would yell at you a lot. But it made me a better person. You take it and be quiet. I’m glad I learned that early.”
The Broncos’ defensive line — ordinarily, a rowdy, chatty group — was rocked with sorrow this season as the fathers of Jackson and Austin died within three weeks of each other at shockingly young ages.
Marvin Austin Sr. was 49 when he died of injuries suffered in a car accident in Washington, D.C. Five days later, on Sept. 19, his only son gave doctors consent to take his father off life support.
He was buried last Saturday in a Washington cemetery with his plot facing FedEx Field.
“He was a diehard Redskins fan,” Austin said. “Even when I played for Dallas (last season), he would not wear a Cowboys jersey. He said, ‘I support you, but I can’t do that.’ I said, ‘It’s got your name on the back!’ He said, ‘That’s your name on the back.’ “
To honor his father, Marvin Austin will add “Jr.” on his jersey nameplate, starting with Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Jodie Jackson was 47 when he died unexpectedly in his Greensboro, N.C., apartment in late August. Malik learned of his father’s passing during the second half of the Broncos’ preseason game Aug. 23 against the Houston Texans.
The family is still waiting for the coroner’s report, but the early indication is he died from complications of a stroke.
“I try to be strong, not let my dad’s passing get to me,” Jackson said. “I think it hit me in the Seattle game. It was everything. Magnitude of the situation. It was a big game. You wanted to be great. He wasn’t there to watch the game, so I couldn’t talk to him about it.”
“The game goes on”
It’s not that people forget professional football players are people too. It’s that it doesn’t occur to them. Rare is the American kid who doesn’t want to play sports for a living. Kids may not grasp the concept of six- or seven- or eight-figure incomes, but they gawk at the fame.
To play a sport and then have people ask for an autograph? It can’t get any better.
Fame and money, though, don’t prevent the annoyance of a traffic jam or poor restaurant service. And, the life of an NFL player can’t heal the hurt from the loss of a loved one. Rich or poor, famous or fan, only time can heal.
“We’re supposed to be strong, not have any bad feelings, money will take care of everything,” Jackson said. “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.”
Jackson missed one day of practice to attend his father’s funeral in New Jersey but was back with the Broncos the next day.
Austin needed to take two separate trips back to the nation’s capital. He missed just two non-bye-week practices. Neither Jackson nor Austin missed a game.
“Look at Robin Williams, look at some of these famous actors, they’ve got it all,” Austin said. “Money, fame. But it doesn’t equate into happiness. No matter what you have, family is the most important thing. I saw that when I went home (last) weekend for my father’s going-home celebration. Being around my family. … I’m just so motivated. And not just about football. Motivated to be a good example in any and everything I do.”
Because they are human, Jackson and Austin will make the occasional mistake on the football field. Which would seem to put their coaches in an awkward predicament. How can you yell at a guy knowing his father just died?
Austin said coaches don’t really yell, anyway. These are grown men playing the game. NFL coaches use a different teaching tactic.
“You’re not getting it done — ‘Excuse me, get him off please. Take a seat over there, bro,’ ” Austin said. “I’d rather they yell at me if they’d let me stay in there.”
Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said the scolding part of coaching is usually reserved for those who don’t put forth maximum effort. That’s not a problem with Jackson or Austin.
“Being a part of a football team, it really is a microcosm of life because things happen like this,” Del Rio said. “You have to deal with it. You can’t pretend it didn’t happen. There’s a grieving process that takes place, but yet the game goes on. Sometimes getting back amongst your buddies is the best thing you can do to get your mind off it and your mind back into your work. In both cases, they wanted to get back with their teammates.”
“Open arms” upon return
John Fox, the Broncos’ head coach, has always been kindhearted to his players when they’ve dealt with serious personal matters. Star receiver Demaryius Thomas missed the first five days of training camp after his grandmother died. Fox insisted on excusing Lonie Paxton from a January 2012 playoff game so the long snapper could be with his wife as she was enduring complications from her pregnancy with twins.
“We preach family is first,” Fox said. “We’re trying to create that atmosphere and culture here within our football team. To do that you can’t talk out both sides of your mouth. We tell guys take what you need, and when you get done we want you back.”
Austin and Jackson each said they were humbled and grateful for the support they received from their coaches and teammates. You know how guys are. Many struggle to show a sentimental side, especially around other men. They don’t really know what to say, or if they should say anything.
The fear is to bring a guy down when interior defensive line play demands a frenzy.
“Our D-line is so close to each other,” Terrance Knighton said. “We group text. We talk a lot. When Malik came back from his dad’s funeral and Marvin came back from the funeral, it was open arms. We didn’t want to make them feel bad. We wanted to energize them, give life to them.”
Jackson had just gone through accepting condolences for his father when it was his turn to deliver for Austin.
“I know how I felt. I appreciated all the condolences. But the more people said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ the more upset I’d get,” Jackson said. “I went up to Marvin and said something like: ‘I know what you’re going through, man. I’m here.’ Keep it short, light. We’re all grown men, and we all have our ways of handling our problems. I’m not secretive, but I don’t really talk about things.”
That’s not Austin. He’s a friendly sort. It was cathartic for him to talk about his father’s death.
“Last night I couldn’t sleep,” Austin said Wednesday. “I kept thinking of him. I had to make that decision when he was on his deathbed.
“I wasn’t tearing up or nothing. I was thinking about the time I spent with him at the hospital (as his father was on life support). Thinking about the time we used to go fishing. I had talked to him a couple days before the accident — he was going to come out here and enjoy the games.
“My father is the reason I’m here right now. He’s the reason I have this confidence, this swagger. He (instilled) all those things in me. I made him proud. My family told me before he passed away that I was like a hero to him.
“The doctors said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I pretty much had to let my father go rest. I told him it was OK.”
Family ties that bind
Jackson is extremely introspective. He grew up in a family unit household in Northridge, Calif., just outside Los Angeles. His mom, Robin, and dad were together until they separated in Malik and Marquis’ senior year. They were both large men like their father. Marquis was an all-conference defensive end at Texas Southern University.
“The boys were the closest of friends, but they were also their worst enemies,” Robin Jackson said.
Malik and Marquis might call each other a so-so. But who are you to say that to my brother? Dad so loved his sons but he pushed them. He spoiled his daughter, Starra, who is 18.
“She was daddy’s little girl,” Robin Jackson said. “When Jodie passed, everybody was focused on her. Marquis, because he’s the oldest twin, he focused on all the arrangements.”
Malik Jackson is wrestling with dedicating this season to his father, but he wants to make sure he’s doing it from the heart and not a script.
“You do that, but if I have a bad game, you say, ‘This isn’t what dad would have wanted,’ ” Jackson said. “You know what I mean? I’m dedicating it to him, but I don’t want to do it just to say it. Can’t dedicate a season and be average.”
Austin grew up in a rough section of D.C. He was an only child. Mom and dad separated before he reached school age, but Marvin Austin Sr. was not an absentee father.
“Best decision he ever made was not allowing me to play when I was 10 years old,” Austin said. “I had to play the 125 (pound) division, full of 13-, 14-year-olds. I was so hot with him, too. My dad said, ‘Nah, can’t play. Not going to let you get out there and get beat up.’ “
Marvin Austin Jr. will be out there Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, sometimes lining up alongside Jackson, a defensive end who moves in to tackle during passing situations.
“I look at it like this: My father, he’s resting,” Austin said. “He’s going to be with me at all times now. But I’m going to say this as blunt as I can: Nobody gives a (bleep). In this league, they don’t a (bleep) about your daddy. You think the Cardinals care? No. They’ll try to take your head off.
“Whatever it is you go through, you’ve got to understand this is your livelihood. What better thing to do than go out there and play on Sundays.”
Malik Jackson, DE
Born: Jan. 11, 1990, in Northridge, Calif. Age: 24.
Height: 6-foot-5.
Weight: 293 pounds.
Family: Single, twin brother Marquis; sister Starra, 18.
High school: All L.A. City team as senior at Birmingham, Van Nuys, Calif.
College: USC (freshman, sophomore), Tennessee (junior, senior).
Draft: Fifth-round pick in 2012 draft (137th overall) by Broncos.
NFL: Limited to special teams in rookie season of 2012. Had six sacks while playing 52 percent of the snaps in 2013.
Marvin Austin, DT
Born: Jan. 1, 1989, in Washington, D.C. Age: 25.
Height: 6-foot-2. Weight: 312 pounds.
Family: Single, 1-year-old son Carter.
High school: Coolidge and Ballou (senior) in Washington, D.C. Named by USA Today as nation’s defensive player of the year. Ranked as No. 1 defensive tackle recruit.
College: North Carolina. Considered potential top-10 draft pick during junior season but suspended from senior season with several other players for NCAA violations.
Draft: Despite sitting out his final college season, selected in second round of 2011 draft (52nd overall) by New York Giants.
NFL: Missed rookie 2011 season with torn pectoral muscle. Played sparingly in 2012. Cut by Giants, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys in 2013. Signed by Broncos in May. Has played in 25 percent of defensive snaps.
