SCORES TWICE AFTER A PUCK TO THE FACE
Lots of guys who get signed as undrafted free agents have interesting stories. Jervonte Jackson's is on another level entirely.
Jackson, a defensive tackle from Florida Atlantic, is the half-brother of Eagles center Jamaal Jackson -- they have the same father, Jerry Jackson. But Jervonte's mother is Avonda Dowling, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in California for dealing drugs. When she was arrested, in 2002, Jervonte, then a sophomore in high school, was left in charge of the Miami-area household, which included his younger sister, Vonshari Hoardes.
"Paying bills, taking care of my sister, that was really difficult," Jackson said, after Thursday's rookie camp workout "Growing up, being a man real fast, was something I had to endure."
Jackson maintains a close relationship with his mother and hopes she can someday be freed by an appeal.
"She calls me about every other day," he said. "She's happy that I got my foot in the door. I always told her, if I get my foot in the door, just a sniff or a scratch, I'm going to take full advantage of it."
Jervonte maintains that his mom, who previously had served time for a weapons violation, had left criminal life behind when the testimony of drug gang members led to an investigation and the 2002 arrest. He says drugs were planted in her purse, and that the prosecution's portrayal of her as the leader of the violent "Vonda Gang," invovled in at least two murders, was highly embellished.
"Everybody that knew my mama knew she was a kindhearted person, always did everything for kids," Jackson said. "She never was a bad, evil person. She probably did bad things to survive, but she didn't kill anybody, she didn't beat up people, she didn't rob people -- the things that were happening in everyday Miami life ... A lot of people knew my mama wasn't a gang leader. A lot of people."
Read more about Jervonte's journey in Friday's Daily News.
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Eagles senior vice president Mark Donovan has left the team to become the Kansas City Chiefs' vice president and cheif operating officer, where he will deirect the Chiefs' business operations.
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Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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