And Richard Jackson is finally home.

There was a lot of speculation about Jackson’s departure from the Irish this year.  There’s little doubt that the solid depth chart, especially with upcoming stars Golden Tate, Mike Floyd and Duval Kamara on it, was at least a PART of the decision.  But, it appears that it wasn’t THE reason for his leaving the team.

The real reason is much more important than playing time:

“I was really homesick at Notre Dame,” he said. “I had a lot of reasons I needed to be at home. My daughter is 16 months old, and I was missing out on a lot with her. Every time I got home, she would have learned something new that I didn’t get to see. It took her awhile to get used to me being around. I didn’t want her to go four or five years only seeing me three or four times a year. I want to be around her right now so that she knows, ‘That’s my dad, and he’s going to be with me every day.’

“My granddad isn’t doing so well, and I didn’t want to miss this chance to be around him,” Jackson said.

I won’t ever fault a guy for making a choice like this.  Be it a superstar starter or a walk-on scrub.  Family and being with family is more important than most things in this world, and I can’t begrudge someone that choice.  If I was him, I’d probably have done the same thing. 

I think it’s a shame that he couldn’t do both, and get an ND degree to help secure his future, but I’m happy to hear that he’s back with his daughter and grandfather, and is able to continue playing under 30-second-life-ND-coach-O-leary.  

Best of luck Richard. 

HT:  BGS

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