Early years

Jackson attended West St. John High School in Edgard, Louisiana where he was a member of the Rams 2003 and 2004 2A State Championship teams. He was a two-way lineman who was named Class 2A Defensive Player of the Year after a senior season that totalled 84 tackles, 16 sacks, and 17 pressures, while winning the state championship. He was named All-District and All-Parish on the gridiron and also lettered in basketball. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Jackson chose LSU over Oklahoma State and Colorado.

College career

Jackson redshirted in 2004.

As a redshirt freshman in 2005, he earned a spot on the Freshman All-SEC team by the league’s coaches and the Sporting News. He recorded thirteen tackles (8 solos) and two sacks and added five quarterback pressures. As a sophomore, in 2006, Jackson was a Second-team All-SEC selection. He was a starter at left DE and recorded 37 tackles (13 solos). He also had 8.5 sacks, six pressures and 10.5 tackles for a loss. Jackson caused and recovered a fumble, broke up four passes and caught an interception.

As a junior, in 2007, Jackson started thirteen of fourteen games at left defensive end. He totalled 36 tackles (15 solos) with 3.5 sacks, 4.5 stops for losses, and twelve quarterback pressures. Jackson caused a fumble and ranked second in the NCAA among defensive linemen with ten pass break-ups.

In 2008, Jackson earned All-SEC Second-team again. He recorded 36 tackles (17 solos) that included 4.5 sacks, 10.5 stops for losses, and seven quarterback pressures. He recovered a fumble and deflected four passes. In total Jackson started 38 of 53 games at LSU, recording 122 tackles (53 solos) with 18 pass deflections, one interception, two forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries. He ranks eighth in school history with 18.5 sacks and is eleventh with 27 stops for losses.

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Although having played in a 4-3 alignment at Louisiana State, Jackson was considered an ideal 3-4 defensive end. He drew comparisons to Anthony Weaver. Jackson was chosen by the Kansas City Chiefs with the third pick overall.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 4⅛ in	296 lb	4.94 s	1.68 s	2.79 s	4.80 s	7.64 s	28½ in	8 ft 6 in	20 reps	17

Kansas City Chiefs

Jackson was drafted by the Chiefs, who looked to implement him as DE into their new 3-4 defense. Jackson remained unsigned at the beginning of the Chiefs' training camp session and did not travel with the team to River Falls, Wisconsin (site of the team's practice facilities). The holdout ended on August 7 as he was signed to a five-year contract reportedly worth $57 million with $31 million guaranteed. Tyson played in all 16 games of his rookie season and had 38 tackles (27 solo) with 2 pass deflections. In 2011, Jackson had only one sack though he also had a career record of 55 tackles.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 11, 2014, Jackson signed a 5-year $25 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons.

NFL stats

Year	Team	GP	COMB	TOTAL	AST	SACK	FF	FR	FR YDS	INT	IR YDS	AVG IR	LNG	TD	PD
2009	KC	16	38	27	11	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
2010	KC	12	31	19	12	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2011	KC	16	55	37	18	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
2012	KC	15	43	31	12	3.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2013	KC	15	34	25	9	4.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2014	ATL	16	22	9	13	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Career		90	223	148	75	9.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13

Key

• GP: games played
• COMB: combined tackles
• TOTAL: total tackles
• AST: assisted tackles
• SACK: sacks
• FF: forced fumbles
• FR: fumble recoveries
• FR YDS: fumble return yards
• INT: interceptions
• IR YDS: interception return yards
• AVG IR: average interception return
• LNG: longest interception return
• TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
• PD: passes defensed

[ Source: Wikipedia ]