Broncos S Kareem Jackson Calls Out NFL for Making Him the 'Poster Child'

Denver Broncos fans aren't alone in feeling like safety Kareem Jackson is being unfairly persecuted by the NFL. Although it might not come as a surprise, Jackson is in agreement with Broncos Country. 

As Jackson serves his second suspension of the 2023 season, he spoke out publicly for the first time since the league's latest reprimand ahead of his coming meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. 

"For me, I see a lot of the same things happening around the league where guys aren't going through what I'm going through -- no flags, no fines, no suspensions," Jackson said Tuesday night via the Associated Press and NFL.com."I'm not really sure why I'm being treated the way I'm being treated. I'm making regular football plays, nothing malicious in my opinion. I just want to know why I'm the only person going through what I'm going through."

Teammates like Justin Simmons and Patrick Surtain II have decried the NFL's apparent targeting of Jackson. Both All-Pros expressed frustration in the conspicuous way the NFL is picking and choosing when to enforce unnecessary roughness rules.

"How are we supposed to stop a runner from falling forward?" Simmons queried on social media, referencing Jackson's second ejection/suspension for a Week 11 hit on Minnesota Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs, who was carrying the ball like a running back well outside the pocket, advancing the ball, which means he lost the "defenseless" protections signal-callers enjoy inside the pocket, or when sliding. 

These are the issues Jackson is hoping for some clarity on, as, indeed, such hits happen every week across the NFL without ejections, fines, or suspensions. But one of the reasons answers may not be forthcoming is because he doubts the NFL could even articulate exactly how a rule is being violated, let alone how a player could re-approach it when faced with a similar situation down the road. 

"There's no clarity, a lot of gray area," Jackson said. "I asked them a ton of questions and told them I'll be in the same situations, how am I supposed to play or how am I supposed to go about these situations? So, hopefully, something comes from this meeting — I don't think much will, because I don't even think they know. At this point, I feel like I'm the poster child for whatever they're trying to get across or prove. So, we'll see."

Jackson has seemingly become Runyan's whipping boy. This season, Jackson has been ejected from two games, suspended twice (totaling six games), and fined four times (totaling $89,670). 9NEWS' Mike Klis has done the math, concluding that Jackson has lost $927,997 in wages via suspension and fines — a player loses his game checks for each contest he's suspended — on the veteran's $2.515 million salary. 

As Klis rightly points out, when you factor in that Jackson loses about 50% of his annual salary to taxes and benefit deductions, that $927K in lost wages has him essentially working for free. According to Over The Cap, Jackson has totaled $80,932,059 in career earnings, so fans need not worry about him going broke, but that's beside the point. 

Jackson is dangerously close to working for nothing. Now, one can argue that he has no one to blame but himself for his unnecessary roughness fouls, but the NFL has been exceedingly sensitive and meticulous in its enforcement relative to Jackson, and the league has a track record of using the Broncos as a scapegoat in enforcing its rules. 

Back in 2020, the NFL unfairly disciplined the Broncos by forcing the team to play the New Orleans Saints without a quarterback in a Week 12 tilt due to Jeff Driskel contracting COVID-19 and being in close proximity to Denver's two other quarterbacks — Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, and Blake Bortles at the time — without perfect mask discipline. It was unfair on many levels, not the least of which was the NFL's willingness to reschedule games for other similarly afflicted teams whose QB had either been infected or exposed to the virus. 

The league wouldn't afford the Broncos the same flexibility, though. The NFL dropped the hammer on the Broncos, forcing them to play the Saints with wide receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback, to make an example of the team for what the league described as deceptive actions in the wake of Lock and Rypien's exposure. 

The league was highly sensitive to COVID-19 violations during that 'pandemic season' for good reason, as it threatened the NFL's existence, but the front office in New York bent over backward to flex games for other teams. Instead, the NFL notified the Broncos of their QB plight the day before the game (on a Saturday). 

Denver was so desperate the team even requested a special dispensation to allow a coach to play QB for one game (then-quality control coach Rob Calabrese), which the NFL denied, of course. The Saints trounced Denver 31-3 in what not only amounted to an embarrassment for the Broncos, but also the league. Integrity of the game, my left foot. 

Jackson was around that year. He witnessed the league's tyranny in his second season in Denver. Even without that ugly distinction on the NFL's track record, it objectively seems like Runyan has it out for Jackson. He's being treated like an actual unrepentant head-hunter like Vontaze Burfict — who seemed to relish his "dirty" reputation.  

After Jackson appealed his first four-game suspension this season, the NFL reduced it to two games. The league is unlikely to be accommodating in any way, shape, or form this time around, but at least Jackson is doing what he can to get answers from Goodell, although it's unlikely to avail him or the Broncos. 

Were it not for the fortunate emergence of P.J. Locke, losing Jackson for what will amount to six-plus games (when you count the ejections) would have cost the Broncos dearly on defense, especially with Caden Sterns out for the season. Delarrin Turner-Yell has proven to be woefully unprepared for live-bullet action, while rookie sixth-rounder JL Skinner is still learning. 

The Broncos have persevered, despite the NFL's meddling, overcoming one obstacle after another to find themselves on a five-game winning streak and owning a 6-5 record. Here's to hoping Jackson, and the Broncos, get some answers from Goodell. Barring any intervention on the part of the NFL, Week 16 is the soonest Jackson can return to the field. 

I'm not holding my breath.