Eddie Jackson, previous NFL participant, talks path to Meals Network stardom, why recreation working day is 'something special'

Eddie Jackson had a sound collegiate football career at Arkansas that he parlayed into a temporary NFL vocation. But he also beloved entertaining and cooking and determined to get off the helmet and pads and use an apron alternatively.

The former NFL cornerback who played for the Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots from 2004 to 2007 turned to the culinary arts total time after his times on the gridiron were being above. He went from cooking in food vans to emerging as a top rated chef on the Food Community.

"With me, I grew up in a domestic in which my grandmothers were chefs. When I started out cooking, I was like 5 decades previous, begun generating biscuits with my grandmother," Jackson explained to G3 Box News Digital in a modern interview. 

"For me, as soon as I acquired done participating in athletics, I knew I wished to do a thing with food items. So, I began out catering and doing all these gatherings and matters like that. And it kinda led me to having a food truck, and that led me to seeking out for ‘Food Community Star,’ and I gained ‘Food Network Star.’ 

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Previous NFL player and "Food Network Star" winner Eddie Jackson attends Jets + Chefs: The Final Tailgate. (Theo Wargo/Getty Illustrations or photos for NYCWFF)

"And that’s how I received on to Food Network seven yrs ago, and I have been with them for seven years. Lotta exhibits hosted and judged and all kinds of things. And it’s been a beautiful romantic relationship."

Jackson mentioned he acquired into the food stuff service business at Arkansas.

"In university, I applied to promote plates to my teammates to get pocket adjust, and I however cooked when I received into the NFL. I love to entertain. For me, entertaining is every thing. That is why I designed the ebook and that’s what I love to do," he instructed G3 Box News Digital.

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Jackson just lately partnered with the Whirlpool brand to aid cook dinner up a person of his signature match working day recipes — air-fried spicy hen Parmesan wings. He explained employing Whirlpool’s air fry method in its wise appliances aided him slash down on cook time and even helped him try to eat more healthy.

"Match working day, for me, is something that’s special. I established a whole cookbook about cooking for video game working day, house-gating. So the partnership involving Whirlpool is a beautiful issue due to the fact sports activities and food items go hand in hand, and I appreciate to entertain, deliver pals alongside one another," he said.

Jackson additional that the Yummly smart thermometer was also some thing he used, especially when cooking huge cuts of meat.

American chef and former NFL cornerback Eddie Jackson and Emmy Award-successful Food items Network star Giada De Laurentiis. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Photographs for NYCWFF)

"I like when I can take big cuts of meat and do different items with it, whether I acquire a total brisket and cook dinner it truly bit by bit and make tacos out of it or I can acquire prime rib and prepare dinner it a whole lot a lot quicker and have kind of like this more than-the-prime variety of activity day food, which I really like to do," Jackson explained.

Even when currently being absent from the NFL, Jackson is nevertheless maintaining a close eye on the league. There are plenty of contenders for the Super Bowl this upcoming period.

The previous participant pointed to the Buffalo Costs as just one group that could potentially go all the way.

"I really feel like it is heading to be a number of teams this yr that are gonna be some surprises. The previous pair of decades all people retains stating, but I experience like this calendar year they have a actually very good prospect. That protection is actually coming together, and I imagine that Josh Allen, this could be his calendar year," Jackson said.

Cornerback Eddie Jackson of the Miami Dolphins celebrates after the Dolphins defeated the Carolina Panthers at Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Fla., on Sept. 25, 2005. (Doug Benc/Getty Images)

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"But then you received some young teams out there, with youthful quarterbacks as properly, like the Arizona Cardinals, that I have higher hopes for as nicely. So it will be a extremely intriguing 12 months. I never consider it is gonna be the Rams or Buccaneers or Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. I believe it’s going to be somebody new and clean this calendar year, which would be genuinely good for the NFL."