Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldogs celebrate Kearis Jackson making NFL roster

ATHENS, Ga. — Kirby Smart knows how hard it is to make a 53-man roster. It’s one of the only things in football he never accomplished, and that’s why it was important to him to recognize a former Georgia player who did on Tuesday, the NFL’s cut down day.

Rookie receiver Kearis Jackson made his way onto the 53-man roster of the Tennessee Titans to start the 2023 season after going undrafted this past April and overcoming an offseason surgery that held him out of rookie minicamp in May.

“We announced that in the team meeting, right before practice I got a text Kearis and one of the guys from the Titans texted me and the whole team went nuts and was ecstatic,” Smart said on Tuesday. “Who better deserves that than a guy that went through 2-3-4 injuries, he was on the leadership SEC committee and represented this university on every board he could be on, and stood up in front of the team and led? Just an unbelievable leader. He had all the cards stacked against him and he still overcame all that and made it in one of the toughest things to do in all of sports, and make that 53-man roster.”

Jackson spent five seasons in the Georgia program starting in 2018. A four-star recruit coming out of Peach County High School (Fort Valley, Ga.), Jackson redshirted in his first season before bursting onto the season in his second, playing in 11 of 14 games with seven starts.

Statistically, Jackson’s best season came as a redshirt sophomore in 2020. He finished as the team’s leading receiver with 36 grabs and 514 yards, finding the end zone three times in 10 games. Jackson also acted as the Bulldogs’ return man with a career-best 52-yard punt return that put him atop SEC rankings in that category.

Jackson played in all 15 games each of his final two seasons and came up with some clutch catches including a touchdown against Florida (2021), a 35-yard grab to put Georgia into the red zone on its game-winning drive of the Peach Bowl against Ohio State (2022).

Jackson’s teammates know how hard his career was, filled with injuries including a surgery to operate on his knee after his impressive showing in 2020 and prior to the 2021 National Championship season. They also know what kind of person Jackson was in the locker room on a daily basis, bringing leadership to the Bulldogs’ in their everyday efforts – on and off the field.

“I mean, that’s our brother. That’s our brother, man. That’s huge. I was just saying I was going to call him later, man, just to congratulate him because that’s huge,” Georgia safety Javon Bullard said. “It’s really huge for me because me and Kearis grew up around the same places. It’s huge, man. I’m proud of him. He’s motivation to me. I’ve got to give him a call, man. It hit my heart, man, because it’s huge. A guy that put so much work in and it’s finally paying off for him, I’m excited to see it.”

“Shoot, the guys that have been here, that have seen his time, we all clapped. Everybody in the room clapped just because they knew who Kearis was. But the guys who had really been here and seen his progression over the time, it brought chills to my body, man,” defensive lineman Zion Logue added. “I’m grateful to hear that. Just the injuries and the touches that he didn’t get here, I feel like he’s going to get it in the league. He’s just got to take it by the horns and run with it.”

Jackson, one of seven wide receivers that made the Titans’ 53-man roster, caught three passes for 60 yards in the preseason with Tennessee including a 26-yard touchdown in the preseason finale. The Titans begin their regular season on September 10th on the road against the New Orleans Saints (1:00 p.m. ET, CBS).