Jackie Marshall's Path to Overcome Injury and Redefine Himself

Coming off a strong redshirt freshman season in 2022, defensive lineman Jackie Marshall carried that momentum from the fall into the spring. He was coming into his own for the Bears, becoming a difference-maker on defense and routinely stacking great practices on top of one another.

On April 15, 2023, just a week before Baylor’s Green and Gold Game, Jackie’s world suddenly turned upside down when he felt a pop in his right knee during a scrimmage. Initially, he didn’t know the severity of his injury but felt something wasn’t right.

The following day, the training staff confirmed it was an ACL tear and told Jackie he would have to miss the entire season. Floored by the news, Jackie recounts in an interview with SicEm365, “I was really emotional. But it didn’t hit me until I had to come up here every day to watch practices and couldn’t fly around and play. It took a toll on me.”

For Jackie, football was all he knew and defined who he was as an individual. He started playing the sport at the age of five and only briefly stopped playing for a few years once his family relocated from Maryland to LaPlace, Louisiana.

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Defensive lineman Jackie Marshall (RJr.) recorded a team-high seven tackles in the win over Tarleton.

Funny enough, Jackie’s hiatus from football included his freshman year of high school. One day, roaming the halls of East St. John as a sophomore, a football coach approached Jackie and asked him inquisitively, “Why don’t you play football? You’re huge.”

Unsure of himself, Jackie, who was about 6-foot-2, 230 pounds at the time, responded, saying, “I don’t know. I kind of just stopped.”

“Stop?” the coach asked in disbelief. “I’ll tell you what, come out to the weight room after school, and we’ll get you some gear, and you can come out to practice.”

Jackie went to practice the next day and was hooked… again.

“My whole life, I wanted to be a running back, but with my size, I didn’t think that was going to work out,” he said, laughing. “They moved me to defensive end, and that was the first time ever playing defense, and I fell in love with it.”

The camaraderie, dominating on defense and all of the perks that came with being a football player intrigued Jackie, but what he enjoyed most was the process.

“I fell in love with the process,” he said. “The first day, I didn’t know anything. On the second day, I figured out all of this stuff, and it was like, ‘Wow.’”

Jackie started getting some buzz after an All-District season as a junior, and his stock surged. He collected over 20 scholarship offers, most notably from Baylor, Arkansas, Arizona, Miami and Michigan State.

“I started [playing] late, but once I got on, it got crazy and hectic, and coaches were pulling me out of class,” he said. “Not too many people from where I’m from get the chance to play at the next level, so the whole [recruiting process] was unreal.”

Jackie committed to Baylor before his senior season and chose the Bears because of his special relationship with the defensive line coach at the time, Dennis Johnson. Johnson first found out about Jackie because one of his former players was East St. John’s defensive line coach.

“I went [to Waco] for a junior day, and I met [Coach Johnson] there, and we built a connection,” Jackie said. “They came [to Louisiana] and offered me, and I knew from the jump that I was going to Baylor. They would call and check on me every day. They would talk to my mom and make sure she’s doing good. It was more of a personal connection.”

Jackie and his mother, Lisa, also have a special relationship; he calls her his “superhero.” Until he was re-connected with his father midway through his life, Lisa spent the majority of Jackie’s childhood as a single mother, with Jackie being the youngest of five siblings.

“We didn’t have it all when I was a kid, but whenever we needed something, she made a way,” he said. “I appreciate that about her and my big brothers. The biggest thing she taught me was that I have to work for everything. She had two or three jobs but always made sure that we were straight and had everything we wanted. Seeing that motivates me to put her in a better place [one day].”

Fast-forward to April 2023, when he learned about his injury, Lisa was one of the first people he called. Jackie remembers her immediately offering to make the seven-hour drive to Waco and eventually telling him, “It’ll be okay. Just talk to God about it.”

Jackie had always believed in God, but his injury provided the necessary time for him to truly take his faith seriously and build that relationship even more.

“Mentally, it was rough [right after the injury],” he said. “After I accepted [the injury], I took that leap to get closer to God. I’m thankful to my girlfriend, [Aliyah Kaloostian]; she helped me a ton. Everything happens for a reason. I don’t know if [strengthening my faith] was the reason I got hurt, but it played out how it was supposed to.”

Baylor Athletics

Marshall earned a single-digit jersey this fall, wearing No. 0 after wearing No. 35 in 2022. He missed the 2023 season recovering from an ACL injury.

Meanwhile, on the road to physical recovery, it wasn’t always the easiest of times for Jackie.

“My injury happened around spring, so everybody went on break, and I had to stay [in Waco] for treatment,” he said. “I was here by myself. Coming up here and having to limp around, it was rough. But I understood there was nothing else that I could do but get my knee back right and get better every day.”

The most challenging thing Jackie had to endure was watching his brothers and teammates out on the field and feeling helpless on the sidelines. Had he been on the field last year, he “most definitely” feels like Baylor’s 3-9 season could have gone differently.

“The injury itself wasn’t even the hardest part, having to watch practice and games and knowing there’s nothing I could do to get back out there,” Jackie said, holding back tears.

After getting cleared eight painstakingly long months later, he called everyone on his phone and told them, “It’s go-time,” but there was one thing left to do.

“When I was hurt, I had this calendar notebook that I would mark off the days for when it was time to get back to work,” Jackie said. “When I finally crossed off that last day, it was really emotional, but I was so happy.”

While there were a lot of hard days he had to endure, Jackie never felt alone during the rehab process because of his strengthened faith as well as the people around him who supported him every step of the way.

“I’m very thankful because of the support system here,” he said. “Everybody was in my corner. Whenever I was sad or feeling down, everybody could tell and would say, ‘You’re not smiling today. What’s wrong? Come talk to me?’ Having that support was great.”

Before his injury, football gave Jackie purpose. When it was taken from him, he had to look elsewhere and discover new things about himself and how he wanted to live.

“My injury forced me to find myself outside of football,” he said. “I’m more than just a football player — it’s what I do, but I’m not just a football player. I want to be a family man, a God-fearing man and a great student. My goal when I was hurt was to attack those things, and when I get back to football, I’ll be able to flip the switch and [balance it all].”

When he returned to the field for the first time during winter workouts, his teammates on the defensive line were hyping him up and screaming, “Jackie’s back!”. Jackie remembers that moment, saying, “I was just so excited about running out and being able to compete with them again.”

After missing a full season with his injury, Jackie understands to never take anything in life for granted. His mix of determination, leadership and ferocity on the field earned him a single-digit jersey number this fall, which his teammates voted upon.

Head coach Dave Aranda broke the news to Jackie, inviting him into his office and telling him, “[Wearing a single-digit] is you – everything about you. You deserve it.”

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

“I have a huge chip on my shoulder and feel like I have something to prove,” Marshall said in an interview with SicEm365.

“I was happy and excited,” Jackie said with a big smile, thinking about the No. 0 jersey he’ll don on Saturdays throughout the fall. “In 2021, seeing those guys with the single digits was so cool to me. I understood the process [of earning that], and this past offseason, I felt like I put in the work to get there.” 

As for his goals on the field, now that he’s back healthy, it’s about one thing and one thing only. “I just want to win,” he said. “I have a huge chip on my shoulder and feel like I have something to prove.”

When the 2024 season opener against Tarleton rolled around, Jackie showed that chip on his shoulder with a break-out performance, leading the Bears in tackles (7) in the 45-3 routing of the Texans. The win over Tarleton was Jackie's first game since the Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force on Dec. 22, 2022.

“I’ve been through a lot in my career, so to be back out there flying around felt great,” he said after the victory. “I think the whole goal for the defense was to start fast and finish, and we [accomplished that].”

“The game was a testament to all of the work and all of the sacrifice, so it’s good to see that come to light, and I think of Jackie Marshall as an example,” Aranda said post-game. “The growth he’s had off the field, the student he is now and the person he is. He’s come back from multiple injuries only to get injured again. For him to play the way he did is so cool, and it’s inspiring.”

Jackie and the Bears (1-0) will travel to take on the No. 12 Utah Utes (1-0) at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 7, at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The game will be televised on Fox.