Rickey Jackson improving, set for possible release this weekend

You can’t keep a good man down.

While Rickey Jackson remains in bed and hospitalized, he is improving hourly from his nearly one hour surgery Wednesday morning to drain bleeding and to relieve pressure from his brain after suffering an injury in a fall recently.

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It was great to have the chance to visit my friend this morning. To say that Rickey is alert and himself would be completely accurate.

Surrounded by three of his loving children, Jackson expressed thanks to the many people who have contacted him or have attempted to do so. He expressed thanks to the Saints organization and during the visit, his phone was literally ringing off the hook as doctors, nurses and others visited to administer medication and to check on him.

At one point, the two anesthesiologists who assisted with Jackson’s surgery appeared to check on him, encourage him and to even get items autographed. I was able to assist by lending him my sharpie pen.

Rickey was to have done an autograph event with fellow Saints and Pro Football Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor members Morten Andersen and William Roaf this evening. Jackson is already planning other events in the near future, an indication of how he expects a full recovery.

The irony of suffering a serious head injury in a fall after taking so many hits and delivering so many which involved his head over the course of a 15-year NFL career without any serious injury is not lost on Jackson, who wanted to laugh about it but said he could not because it hurts to laugh.

At this point, doctors are telling Jackson that he is on target to be released this weekend, possibly Saturday, barring any setbacks.

After visiting with my friend, I feel more confident than ever that he will ultimately get the last laugh, triumphing over a serious injury with the dogged determination which has defined him for so many years.