Staying healthy is next goal for Eagles' Jackson

Jamaal Jackson felt a pop, and almost instantaneously, 1,200 miles south in Miami, his mother Sadie Smith screamed, "That's my baby," and almost jumped through the television.

It would be several hours later on Dec. 27, 2009, when Jackson got the diagnosis every professional football player fears: a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Jackson's season ended that day in the first quarter against Denver, and the Eagles lost not only their center who had started 71 consecutive games, but also what then-quarterback Donovan McNabb called the team's most valuable player.

Although his initial prognosis was for a nine-to-12 month rehabilitation, Jackson is scheduled to start at center in the Eagles' season opener against Green Bay on Sunday, just eight months after undergoing reconstructive surgery. His return is a huge lift to an offensive line that was ineffective in two games without him last season and to first-year starter Kevin Kolb, who needs a trusted, reliable, stabilizing force snapping the ball to him.

"That means the world," said Todd Herremans, the Eagles offensive guard.

But there are plenty of questions surrounding Jackson's return, questions that won't begin to get answered until the game progresses on Sunday. Will his knee hold up? Will he have the stamina to play 60 snaps against the Packers' 3-4 defense? How will he fare against Green Bay's aggressive 337-pound nose tackle, B.J. Raji?

And just how was he able to go from the operating table to the playing field in just eight months?

Worth the weight (loss)

Know this about Jamaal Jackson: He appreciates the value of a dollar, and the importance of hard work.

The summer before his senior year at Delaware State, Jackson worked as a doorman at a movie theater in Dover, Del. He made less than $6 an hour directing patrons to the correct theater, then scraping bubble gum off the seats after they left.

"It's a very degrading job," said Jackson, whose first paycheck for three weeks of work was $380. "It humbled me a little bit."

That spring of 2002, Jackson weighed 350 pounds. His position coach at Division I-AA Delaware State, Jeff Braxton, told him he had the potential to play in the National Football League, but he would have to retool his body. Jackson started working out religiously, and changed his eating habits from a diet of fast food to one that consisted of chicken, tuna, and salad.