I don't know if Jackson is a gang member or has gang affiliations, but I know he grew up surrounded by the culture. He also knows it is, figuratively and often literally, a dead end.
See, I've been to prison with DeSean. I've seen him walk the yard as if it were his old neighborhood, shaking hands and embracing inmates and engaging them in animated conversation. I was just a few feet away.
Back in May 2011, when I was a Bay Area News Group columnist, DeSean's brother, Byron, invited me to join their small group visiting the notorious state prison on the northwest shore of San Francisco Bay. I accepted, curious to see and hear a millionaire NFL star's personal interaction with murderers and rapists and others confined to the margins of society.
DeSean was tremendous, speaking with authority and clarity about his own experience in Los Angeles, talking about friends he had lost to prison or death as a result of the gang lifestyle.
He told me he saw a lot of people at the Q who grew up as he did, navigating violent streets and hoping to survive. Some did. Others did not. DeSean said he always looked to his brother -- Byron Jackson had a brief NFL career -- and their father for guidance.
Jackson said something else that struck a chord: Gangbangers, sensing his bright athletic future, protected him, insulating him from danger. The thugs told him he was going places, and they did not want to be responsible for shattering his dream.
Jackson that day spent several hours at the Q, listening as much as he talked. This was his second trip to the prison and he said he was compelled to visit because doing so reminds him of what he has overcome and, above all, keeps him grounded.