In from the cold

2004-06-22

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

The start of the NFL season was months away, but that didn’t make the moment any less special for Jay Hackett as he pulled on a blue-and-gold Chargers jersey for the first time for the start of Rookie Orientation Camp in early May.

“It’s great to be back home and to be able to put on a Chargers uniform,” Hackett said. “Growing up in San Diego, I’ve always been a Chargers fan. I’ve always been around people wearing Chargers apparel. The player I liked was (former defensive end) Leslie O'Neal. He came to my school to speak and he took our class to a game.”

The free agent cornerback from Morse High was waived by the Chargers on June 22 after Mini Camp, but he hopes to catch on with another team this season or next year.

Hackett is disappointed, but he’s faced long odds before. It wasn’t long ago Hackett feared he had wasted college opportunities because he started his senior year of high school with a 2.0 grade-point average.

“My senior year I got a 3.5 my first semester and a 3.0 my second semester, but it was too late,” said Hackett, telling a cautionary tale for athletes who don’t take school seriously enough in high school.

Arizona State, Wisconsin and Kansas recruiters told him they liked his talent, but they ranked other players ahead of him because of academics. Hackett settled for a scholarship from Division I-AA Montana State of the Big Sky Conference. The cold climate was a long way from home and big-time college football.

“It makes it’s a little tougher if you go to a Division I-AA school,” Hackett said. “But if you’re looking to go to the next level, the scouts are out there and they’ll find you.”

Five years later the NFL found Hackett, a 6-foot, 178-pounder, and he jumped at the chance to sign with the Chargers when they were one of the first teams to contact his agent. The signing gave him what he wanted out of college _ a degree in marketing and an NFL opportunity.

“He’s got a combination of size and speed," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said after Rookie Orientation Camp in May. "He’s got good flexibility in his lower body. That’s important for any defensive corner, with all the maneuvering they have to do. He knows it’s a very competitive environment, in light of the veterans we have in the secondary, but he’s worked very well.”

Schottenheimer cautioned all free agents such as Hackett that even though they don't make it with the Chargers, they can still make it with another NFL team if they continue to work hard. Rookie free agents sometimes stick with a team the following year or after gaining experience in NFL Europe.

The Chargers are deep in young defensive backs they've drafted in the 2003 and 2002, but Hackett signed with the Chargers anyway for the opportunity to compete for his hometown team. He was always one of the last players to leave the field each day during the Offseason Coaching Sessions between rookie camp in May and Mini-Camp with the veterans in June.

“My attitude is I have to go out and compete every day,” Hackett said. “This has been a good learning opportunity for me. I study the playbook and I stay after to work on my techiniques.”

He also recognizes that if he’s going to make an NFL roster, he must show he can excel on special teams.

John Shacklett, Hackett’s high school coach, says the difference between high school stars who don’t succeed in college and thus fail to earn an NFL opportunity and those athletes who are drafted or sign a free agent contract are the ones who accept their role.

“You’ve got to have the physical size and speed, and Jay has that,” Shacklett said. “But Jay also recognized his role quickly. Every kid has a role to play and for some it doesn’t match their expectations. They have a pipe dream. Jay accepted his role in high school and what he had to do to succeed. It’s the same way in college. Players like Jay know who they are.”

Morse has had several NFL players in recent years, but with the retirement of Oakland Raiders offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy, it may be up to Hackett and Regis Crawford to continue Morse’s yearly streak of having an alum on an NFL roster. Crawford, an Arizona State offensive tackle in the Philadelphia Eagles camp as a free agent, and Hackett were teammates at Morse in 1998.

“We’ve talked about how we might be the last ones and that we’ve got to do it,” Hackett said. “But that doesn’t put anymore pressure on us. This is a fun time for both of us.”

Hackett, who was a 48.6 seconds quarter-miler in high school, says the speed of NFL players hasn’t surprised him as much as the level of techniques.

“A player who isn’t as fast or as athletic as you can beat you if they have the knowledge of the game,” Hackett said. “They know how to use their body to beat you if you’re not doing the right thing.”

Hackett was a second-team pick on the All-Big Sky Conference team as a senior. He was a full-time starter his junior and senior years and a spot starter his redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons. Schottenheimer said players of Hackett’s talent won’t be hurt by having played at a Division I-AA school if they have instincts to go with their talent.

“It’s more a matter of whether the guy has good instincts,” Schottenheimer said. “Is he a guy who is able to take information and process it quickly.”

After Hackett’s first semester at Montana State, he wasn’t sure he wanted to stay at the school. He didn’t play as a redshirt and the weather was turning cold. He visited Shacklett during the Christmas break.

“He’s like a lot of young men who go away to college and wonders if he picked the right spot,” Shacklett said. “We sat down and talked and he agreed to finish the year out before he made his decision. I’m really proud of him. He not only did some great things there, he got his degree.”

Hackett, an African-American, said he experienced culture shock after growing up in diverse San Diego.

“There aren’t many minorities there, but people were very nice,” he said. “I didn’t have any racial problems. After a while it felt like home.”

Hackektt’s other option when he didn’t have a standing scholarship offer from a Division I-A school would have been to attend a community college and try to parlay the two seasons into a I-A opportunity.

“The only way I would have gone to a community college is if I didn’t have a Division I-A or I-AA opportunity,” Hackett said. “I think every situation is different and you have to make your own decision. But where I grew up there is a big gang presence, and I possibly could have fallen into a trap. I wanted to go away to college and start a new life.”

Hackett is quiet, unassuming and goal-oriented. When told he doesn't seem like the kind of kid who could end up in trouble with gangs, he says there are traps in such neighborhoods.

"I've got friends that if you knew them you would have never thought would be involved in gangs," he said.

So Hackett left San Diego, and now his new life included a chance to make an NFL roster with his hometown team. Now he'll have to look to another team and opportunity.

Said Schottenheimer, “I tell all the young players, you may not make it with the San Diego Chargers, but if you work hard and do your best, there may be another opportunity with another NFL team.”

Five years after Hackett feared he had wasted a college opportunity, he has a degree, something that in the long run is more important than an NFL opportunity.

“This is something everybody dreams about,” Hackett said. “I just have to give it my best effort and compete every day.”