Jaiquawn Jarrett who made a name for himself in both high school and college is starting his fourth season in the National Football League. Listed as a safety on the New York Jets depth chart, Jarrett behind first string safety Dan Landry along with his teammates hope to enter and go deep in the playoffs.
Originally Jaiquawn’s father came from Kingston, Jamaica where he played soccer, then moved north and now resides in Brooklyn, New York. Jaiquawn can’t remember when his father came to New America. However, his mother ran track at James Madison High School in Brooklyn,
Jaiquawn has one complete fall of playing with the Jets and said that his playing days have been going well from time to time at this stage of his brief career.
“I’m glad for the opportunity this coaching staff (headed by Rex Ryan), and the organization has given me (to be a member of the Jets),” he said, after an exhibition game during pre-season at Met Life Stadium.
He became a Jet after he was released by the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2012 campaign, and started two games for the local franchise of the NFL. He recorded 22 tackles in his first year with the Jets and the same number in his year with Philadelphia.
Jacquawn started to play the gridiron sport at the age of 10 in a league in a league called the Linvetts. He competed for them for three years. He advanced to the Pop Warner League and finally to Fort Hamilton High School, helping to lead the latter twice to the Public Schools Athletic League city-wide championship. He earned a berth on the all-state team while he donned a Fort Hamilton uniform honors where he played both ways — on offense and defense. He accumulated various number of statistics while in high school.
After graduation from high school, he went on to star for four years at Temple University, where he earned all-conference honors, and picked up 299 tackles.
He was drafted in April of 2011 by the Eagles and then was put on waivers and was picked up by the Jets. He saw action in 16 games with New York last season.
Football was not his only sport.
“I played a little basketball while growing up in Brooklyn,” he recalled.
“Every team’ goal is to be in the playoffs,” he went on. “We have to take one game at a time, continue to get better, learn from our mistakes and correct them.
Photo courtesy of New York Jets
