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Thursday, January 4
Jackson comes out of nowhere to become hero
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
NEW ORLEANS -- In the football biography of Willie Jackson, it says very little about catching touchdowns, setting records or becoming a city's cult hero.
Yet Saturday against the defending Super Bowl champions, the well-traveled wide receiver accomplished all three.
|  | | Saints wideout Willie Jackson tied an NFL postseason record after catching three TD passes vs. the Rams on Saturday. |
And after the game, as Jackson was being shuffled around the Superdome basement from interview to interview, one thing never left his side -- a game ball. Tightly tucked under his ripped left biceps, the piece of pigskin was the perfect symbol of what had just taken place.
Jackson, who replaced an injured Joe Horn in the Saints' lineup, caught six passes for 142 yards and tied an NFL playoff record with three touchdowns to help down the Rams. It was hands down the top moment for a player who has caught three touchdown passes in only three of his seven seasons.
"This game, this is the one in my career that I've made the most plays in, no doubt," said Jackson, whose three TD receptions tied the six-year-old record of Jerry Rice. "Personal things are fine and all, but if we would have lost, it would have meant nothing."
The Saints almost did lose, letting the Rams crawl to within 31-28 after leading 31-7 with just over 13:00 remaining. But a muffed punt late in the game by Az-Zahir Hakim squandered what could have been a game-winning drive, giving the Saints the victory.
It was the franchise's first postseason win, ending a 34-year drought and igniting pandemonium on the party-filled streets of New Orleans.
For the Saints, who will next face Minnesota, the victory was another example of an unknown back-up filling the void left by an injured teammate. Running back Ricky Williams goes down with a broken ankle in Week 12? Enter Terry Allen. Quarterback Jeff Blake breaks his foot a week later? Meet Aaron Brooks. And Saturday, when star receiver Joe Horn turned his ankle, Jackson took it as his turn to shine.
"Willie stepped up. It was a great performance," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "When you lose your best receiver and a guy like that steps up, you give nothing but the utmost credit to him."
It was no easy task -- Horn set team records this season for receptions and receiving yards.
"I think this sums up our season in that our No. 1 receiver goes down and it took a lot of character on our part to bounce back from that," Jackson said. "We've done it all year long. A lot of people have written us off, but we just take those things in stride and keep making plays.
"When Joe went down, I knew it meant I may get my number called a little more. And I'm happy I was ready when the opportunities came."
On Saturday, that's just what Jackson did. His first touchdown came on a 10-yard bullet from Brooks that split a pair of Rams defenders by a hair. The score put the Saints up 17-7 in the third and gave the hometown fans a first glimpse at a potential victory.
Minutes later, Jackson struck again, this time acrobatically grabbing a 49-yard bomb over his outside shoulder and prancing untouched into the end zone. What was strange about the play was that Jake Reed was wide open in the middle of the field, nobody within ten yards of him, leaving everyone to wonder why Brooks threw to a covered Jackson.
Seconds later, there was Jackson, literally walking into the end zone and showing up the Rams.
"That's all a part of the game, there wasn't any way I was going to get caught, so that was just the joy I was having out there," he said.
Though Jackson clung tightly to just one game ball Saturday, his two other touchdown balls were nestled in the corner of his locker, for eventual display in Jackson's home.
Next to that locker sat Horn, who had quite the answer for reporters wondering if he'd be ready for the Vikings next week.
"The Vikings? We don't need me for the Vikings. We've got Air Jackson," he said. "THIS is the man you need to talk to."
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com
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