(ThyBlackMan.com) The 2026 college football has the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with two teams led by former NFL all-stars as head coaches vying for the top of the conference. Norfolk State is seeing a big improvement in wins in 2026 by its team managed by head coach Michael Vick and Delaware State is building off the solid 2025 season led by head coach DeSean Jackson. Jackson’s NFL career was full of exciting moments as a former Pro Bowl player as both a wide receiver and return specialist. His life was recently profiled in the 2026 documentary, Go Deep: The DeSean Jackson Story, that was released several weeks ago on Amazon Prime.
Football fans are likely familiar with DeSean Jackson’s arrival into the NFL after being a college star with the California Golden Bears. Go Deep isn’t just a story about DeSean’s journey into the NFL but also his father Bill’s desire for his two sons to have lasting success in the NFL. The footage from the documentary comes from DeSean’s older brother Byron, who was a wide receiver who spent a couple of seasons on the Kansas City practice squad. Byron was pushed by the elder Jackson to work towards NFL success despite Byron’s other interest in filmmaking. Byron Jackson’s talent in filmmaking led him to want to capture the burgeoning football career of his then-kid brother DeSean when the chances of Byron making an NFL roster seemed very slim.
Although much of the documentary is set in California, Bill Jackson’s roots were in Pittsburgh as a big Steelers fan growing up before moving his family to California before DeSean was born. The strong and sometimes volatile relationship between DeSean and his father is highlighted as his father attempts to guide him through high school stardom, the father’s strong desires for his son’s success that leads to issues with his coaches, and keeping his talented younger son from any off the field troubles that can happen to young Black male athletes as they receive national accolades.
One of the more interesting moments of the documentary takes place prior the 2008 NFL Draft when former California Golden Bears head football coach Jeff Tedford has a discussion with the Jackson prior to the NFL Draft. While discussing that he wasn’t trying to convince Jackson to return to college for his senior year at California, Telford has a heated discussion with Bill Jackson about the father and the head coach’s play calling. Ultimately, DeSean Jackson didn’t return to California and surprisingly fell to the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
While football is the focus of the documentary, Go Deep is more about family dynamics than football. Older brother Byron shifts between filmmaker, older brother as a mentor, and the unique relationship with his strong-willed father. The success of DeSean Jackson during his rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles seems to validate the actions of father Bill Jackson in pushing his son towards getting to the NFL and the film ends with a number of touching moments. The film was appropriately named due to DeSean Jackson’s NFL special skill and the Jackson family dynamic.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
