Mark Montieth: Former Colt helps children from tough circumstances similar to his own

The kids from the Sankofa School of Success on Indianapolis’ east side have taken their seats, ready for the afternoon activities at the Carmel Clay Public Library. A former Indianapolis Colts player has some words for them.

“When you get back to school today, it’s what?” Marlin Jackson asks. “That’s right, time to go home! So, you guys are having a phenomenal Thursday. Remember, let’s be respectful of each other, let’s be respectful of our professors, let’s be respectful of our high school partners who are going to team up with us. This is going to be a great experience that you’ll always remember.”

This isn’t a one-off appearance for Jackson, a feel-good moment to be forgotten by sunset. It’s yet another event in the ongoing operation of the Fight for Life Foundation, which he founded in 2007 off the impetus of the Colts’ Super Bowl victory. Jackson clinched that appearance with an interception against the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game, a feat that sent the RCA Dome fans into hysterics, along with radio play-by-play announcer Bob Lamey, who screamed, “Marlin’s got it! The Colts are going to the Super Bowl! The Colts are going to the Super Bowl!’’

An athlete forming a foundation isn’t unusual. Most, however, fade into oblivion after an athlete retires, if not before. Many are formed with good intentions, but some serve merely as image enhancers and/or tax shelters. Keeping one going, with all the Internal Revenue Service and administrative requirements and financial needs, demands exceptional dedication.

“They all are well-intentioned; they come from the heart,” Jackson said. “But they may not have the business structure. They have activities, but there’s no governance, there’s no operations plan or strategy that’s guiding the organization. There might not even be an executive director or CEO. That’s where we differ.”

Jackson’s dedication comes from the exceptional challenges of his childhood.

He never met his father. His mother was a drug addict who was in and out of jail and in and out of his life. His brother, five years older, was a star running back and early role model but was sent to a detention school for selling drugs while in high school and missed his senior football season at Temple University after he was stabbed on the steps of his dormitory in February 2000.

Jackson escaped his treacherous environment in Sharon, Pennsylvania—which he said made him numb to the harsh realities he witnessed but helped him mature faster than others his age—by the good graces of an aunt and cousin who rescued him when he was left abandoned in his mother’s house. He remembers being retrieved and walked to their home in the snow to live with them. His high school coach and a few others also provided timely support.

He went on to become a two-time All-American cornerback at the University of Michigan and a first-round draft pick of the Colts in 2005. He played four NFL seasons before multiple injuries cut short his career. That was long enough, however, for him to draw from his experience with Colts coach Tony Dungy. He had never lacked motivation or confidence on a football field, but his deprived upbringing left holes in some corners of his psyche. Dungy helped him fill them.

“He always said he prioritized his faith and family before football,” Jackson recalled. “That was one of the things as a young man who was trying to find myself [that] stuck out to me, impacted me.

“So often, coaches want you to be totally immersed in the sport and to be bought into the idea it’s the end-all and be-all and be totally focused on it to have success. He reprioritized for us. It was one of those things that helped me develop the mindset I have now.”

Focus on education

Jackson has a knack for being aware of his surroundings, for taking in the moment and viewing it objectively. He had to do that while growing up to escape the daily obstacles, to learn from negatives as well as positives. He did it when he intercepted Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the AFC championship game, remembering that Brady liked to look one way and throw another, which enabled him to step in front of receiver Benjamin Watson. He did it while warming up for the Super Bowl game in Miami, pausing to think, “Wow. I’m playing in the NFL, I’m playing for the Indianapolis Colts, and I’m in the Super Bowl.”

And he does it now, staying attuned to the needs of underprivileged children and educators and remaining involved in the foundation’s programs. That was evident when he met with the kids after they decorated backpacks at the Carmel library. Forty high school students participated as well, serving as hands-on mentors for the fifth- and sixth-graders from Sankofa, an Innovation Network school within the Indianapolis Public Schools district.

“What do we have going on over here?” he said, holding up one girl’s artistic effort. “You like flowers? Yeah. I see the colors. Pink. Purple. These are some of my wife’s favorite colors. I saw you drawing this part, the face with the tongue sticking out. I like how you put the rhinestones around the smile and the tongue.”

Fight for Life’s focus is directed mostly toward education. With assistance from a $20,000 grant from the Colts, it offered free mental health counseling for 46 teachers. It also has introduced a software program called Building Dreams that provides students an outlet to, as Jackson said, “process the experiences and circumstances of their life” and inform their teachers and administrators about their mental state and any problems involving classmates. Schools can earn a pizza party or field trip, such as one to Republic Airways’ Carmel-based training facility this week.

The foundation also coordinates a toy drive that runs from Black Friday through Dec. 12. With help from corporate sponsors and volunteers, toys are distributed to four schools. There will be Children’s Museum of Indianapolis field trips in January, another “confidence through creativity” session in partnership with Nitram Studios similar to the backpack event in Carmel in February and another Republic Airways field trip in March.

The foundation has evolved dramatically from the early days, when it mostly offered football camps and random field trips. But those produced results, too.

Chris Evans was a seventh-grader when he participated in a flag football competition sponsored by Fight for Life at the Colts practice facility. Evans’ team won, which led to an opportunity to meet with Jackson. A team photo was taken, and Evans watched himself on a local newscast that night.

“That was the turning point for me, really,” Evans said. “That was the moment that sparked me. That’s when I started doing 100 push-ups a night.”

“I remember vividly seeing how it impacted him,” Jackson said.

Evans went on to become a star running back at Ben Davis High School, accepted coach Jim Harbaugh’s scholarship offer to play at the University of Michigan, was a sixth-round NFL draft pick in 2021 and played three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before an injury forced an early retirement.

Now living in Carmel, he has founded two organizations. There’s the Chris Evans for the Kids Foundation, for which his mother serves as CEO, and CE Stars, which operates seven-on-seven flag football camps at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield as well as in Detroit, Cincinnati and Evansville. Equipment is provided for those in need.

“How Marlin Jackson made me feel … I thought if I could make another kid feel like that, I want it,” Evans said.

‘Everything I’ve always wanted’

Jackson’s success in football and with his foundation didn’t magically solve the family problems of his childhood. It created new ones. He evolved, but others did not. His success seemed to generate more greed and anger from some family members than respect.

He’s mostly cut off from them all now but has found—earned, really—what he was missing as a child. He has a strong marriage, three sons and a supportive village of extended family members via his wife, Nikki.

“I can understand why my mom was the way she was, the way my brother ended up being, but it can’t erase what occurred,” he said. “When I look back, I see the lack of a relationship when we were in our circumstances growing up. When I made it, that’s when everybody wanted to make more effort. Everybody wanted to call or be around. But I remember all the birthdays, all the holidays, when nobody was calling me or checking on me. I never forgot that.

“Everything that I’ve always wanted, I have now. I have a wife, I have a family, I have my boys. I don’t have a dad, but I am a dad. I don’t have a mother, but I get to see my wife every day be the model of what a mother should be. A lot of the things I missed out on, I get to have. And the things I missed out on as a youth, I get to see every day [with the foundation].

“I’ve experienced the other side of life. I don’t want any kids to experience those things.”•

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Montieth, an Indianapolis native, is a longtime newspaper reporter and freelance writer. He is the author of three books: “Passion Play: Coach Gene Keady and the Purdue Boilermakers,” “Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis,” and “Extra Innings: My Life in Baseball,” with former Indianapolis Indians President Max Schumacher.