AMES — Iowa State’s Cody Jackson has a bunch of tattoos inked on his body, each holding a different meaning or representing different parts of his life journey.
Lately, he’s been thinking about adding one more to the collection.
“One in a million,” Jackson said of his latest tattoo idea, which was the same phrase doctors gave him when he was diagnosed with Lemierre syndrome during his freshman year of college at Oklahoma.
Lemierre’s syndrome is a rare, life-threatening complication that typically starts as a sore throat or tonsilitis and occurs when bacteria makes their way into the deep tissues around the neck and create infected blood clots in a person’s jugular vein. From there, the bacteria spread through the bloodstream to other organs and parts of the body. Sepsis may occur, and abscesses can appear on major organs like the lungs.
It’s sometimes referred to as the “forgotten disease,” because of its rarity and an infection rate that is said to happen to one out of every 1 million people.
Jackson hasn’t forgotten the day it all unfolded, five years ago, when he was a true freshman at Oklahoma in 2021.
After emerging out of Richmond, Texas, as a consensus four-star recruit, Jackson appeared to be a promising player for then-coach Lincoln Riley. He appeared in two early-season games and logged five receptions for 45 yards.
Football players are used to playing through bumps and bruises, and a seemingly routine sore throat wasn’t going to be enough for Jackson to sit out of practice.
Later that night, after making it through practice, his condition worsened. He writhed, tossed and turned in bed while shivering and occasionally throwing up. He had difficulty breathing, a nasty cough and felt weakness.
“I was doing everything the worst way, I couldn’t even pick up my phone to call my people,” Jackson said. “Couldn’t call nobody to let them know that something’s going on. It was horrible.”
Fortunately for Jackson, he lived next to the stadium. After a sleepless night and symptoms that didn’t improve, he summoned his remaining strength to walk over to the facility. He was scheduled for early-morning workouts, but instead it was a life-saving walk where he was able to get eventual medical attention.
“I was in the hospital, I was wanting to look it up, like ‘What’s really going on with me?'” Jackson said. “(My friends) were like, don’t even look it up, don’t look into it because it’s that bad and to this day, I still haven’t looked it up.”
Jackson spent three months in the hospital. During that stretch, he says he lost 35 to 40 pounds. Frequent vomiting made it hard to stomach food and water. In addition to the physical toll, the hospital stay weighed on his mental health.
“One day (doctors and nurses) came in there and was like, ‘We’re going to have to stick a big needle through your ribs to get the liquid out of my lungs,'” Jackson said. “So I’m like, ‘Am I going under anesthesia?’ They said no, you’re just going through it like this. When I actually went through it and I got through that, I knew, yeah, I’m going to shake back.”
Friends, coaches and teammates visited often and tried to keep Jackson’s spirits up. He eventually recovered, but his college career was knocked off course.
After that 2021 season, Riley left Oklahoma to become USC’s next head coach. While Jackson originally wanted to follow Riley, he answered his mother’s wishes and transferred closer to home by going to Houston.
Jackson appeared in four games for the Cougars but didn’t log any receptions. He hit the transfer portal once again and found his way to FCS school Tarleton State in 2023.
Jackson rebuilt himself with the Texans. In 2024, his first season after redshirting per NCAA transfer rules, he recorded 29 catches for 490 yards and eight touchdowns. Last season, he followed up with his most productive campaign yet in Tarleton State’s 12-2 season that ended in the FCS quarterfinals. He finished with 53 receptions for 799 yards and six touchdowns.
Now, he’s found his way back to the FBS level and projects to be a key receiver in the first year of the Jimmy Rogers era.
“First of all, he’s grateful for the opportunity that he’s gotten everywhere,” Cyclones wide receivers coach Derrick Sherman said. “He’s really grateful for the place that he’s at now, mentally, physically, all the above. That dude does everything right and cherishes every opportunity.”
Starting roles are far from locked in at this point of preseason fall camp, but his reputation is building.
“That man right over there, Cody Jackson,” said cornerback Seth Johnson, when asked who was the toughest receiver he’s had to cover in practice. “I feel like me going against him is iron sharpening iron. We’ve been making each other better.”
One in a million are the odds someone is diagnosed with Lemierre syndrome, but the odds of coming back from that and returning to the FBS level? Even slimmer.
The reserved, quiet Jackson was asked to share his story in front of the entire team on the final day of fall camp. Big crowds don’t faze him. Not much can scare him these days, after going through his ordeals. Many of his teammates don’t know his journey yet, but he’s looking forward to being able to share his tale.
After that, let the games begin.
“Everybody’s going to go through adversity sometime in life, it’s just how you’re going to respond to it and how you’re going to build yourself up after,” Jackson said. “It feels good. I just know I got a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State’s Cody Jackson battles back after scary medical condition
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
