Is Former Coe College Star’s NFL Career Over?

It's not often that a football player is released in the NFL and the General Manager mentions his community efforts and his family. Both those things happened today, which is why Cedar Rapids and Coe College should be very proud of Fred Jackson.

Monday morning Bills General Manager Doug Whaley released this statement: "Today, we had to make the difficult decision to release Fred Jackson. He had an incredible career for this organization for the past 10 years. We thank Fred for his hard work, dedication, and leadership during his tenure with the Buffalo Bills. Fred has inspired the city of Buffalo in a number of ways. Fred and his family have been dedicated to this community and we can't thank them enough for their contributions through his career."

Jackson has the 3rd-highest rushing yards for an undrafted player in NFL history with 5,646. He's also number three on the Buffalo Bills career rushing list behind Thurman Thomas and O.J. Simpson. Pretty amazing stuff for a guy who had to claw his way into the NFL. He graduated from Coe in 2002 and started as a Bills' NFL Europe allocation player, then a member of the Bills practice squad. In 2007, he became a member of the active roster and he stayed there until today.

Fred was involved in many different charities in Buffalo and also started the D-III Nation Initiative, to bring to light the stars of Division III college athletics.

Fred Jackson is 34. Certainly not young for an NFL running back, but after carrying just five times for 48 yards in the Bills last pre-season game on Saturday, here's hoping another NFL team takes a chance on him. Something tells me they wouldn't be disappointed.

[via BuffaloBIlls.com]