Associated Press
Lawrence Jackson was selected 28th overall by Seahawks in this year's NFL draft.
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Like Phllies' Rollins, Seahawks' Jackson in touch with his 'Inner Game'
WHEN SHORTSTOP Jimmy Rollins cleared his head with "The Inner Game of Tennis," it helped the Phillies reach the playoffs, helped make him an MVP and helped end a playoff slump.
When defensive end Lawrence Jackson read the self-help book, it kept his stock at USC high enough to ensure him being a first-round pick in this year's NFL draft.
Jackson and the Seahawks host the Eagles on Sunday. Without working on his "Inner Game," Jackson might not have been a first-rounder . . . or in the NFL at all.
"It is a powerful book," Jackson said.
It was powerful enough to drag him from the doldrums that threatened to ruin his 2006 season.
Jackson logged 16 sacks in his first two seasons at USC. He was a significant contributor to the Trojans, who lost just one game in those two seasons.
Then, through the first eight games of his junior year, he was sack-less. He didn't even manage one against hapless Stanford on Nov. 4.
It got worse.
Only hours after the Stanford game Jackson learned that his cousin, Kevin Shedden, had died in a car accident. Shedden, 25, served as a mentor in the game for Jackson, Jackson's younger brother and Shedden's two younger brothers.
His stock dropping, his spirit flagging, Jackson asked to meet with USC head coach Pete Carroll.
He felt lousy that he wasn't helping the team. He felt guilty at his own self-absorption: In light of his cousin's death, he understood that not having a sack meant little in the grand scheme.
"I was a junior, my name was hot. After a game, even if we won, if somebody else got a sack, I was upset," Jackson said. "Then my cousin died. I mean, I couldn't deal with it on my own anymore."
Jackson met with Carroll on Wednesday of that week.
He told Carroll he was preparing as hard as ever, that he was practicing harder, and, now, with a tragedy in his life, his world was blackening.
"I was kind of stumped," Jackson said.
"I think you're pressing," Carroll replied.
He handed him a little book about a fuzzy ball, a book he first read in the mid-1970s.
Jackson, mystified, accepted it and left. He placed it on his dresser, where it stayed for the next 2 days.
"I thought it was kind of weird," Jackson said.
Things got no better.
