T H E I N D E P E N D E N T TSHTEU D NETP E PN UD BE LN I CTA S TT IO NA I VTEI R Y FA T T HBEU U FF E T1 B 9U 50 I NED UN D EO NFT TPH UEB LUI C OSNI T O NA I VLEOR,S S I TI N Y CA FFALO, SINCE 1950
UBSPECTRUM.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
VOLUME 65 NO. 52
SOLOMON JACKSON 1995 - 2016
Jackson dies following medical emergency
Jackson remembered as ‘ultimate teammate’
JORDAN GROSSMAN
JORDAN GROSSMAN
SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR
SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR
UB football player Solomon Jackson died Monday night, one week after suffering a medical emergency during a team conditioning session, the university announced Tuesday morning. Jackson was a redshirt sophomore defensive end from Stone Mountain, Georgia and was in his junior year academically as a sociology major. He was 20 years old. Jackson’s emergency occurred at the North Amherst Recreation Center – about five miles from North Campus – on the morning of Feb. 22, and he had been hospitalized at Buffalo General Medical Center ever since. UB has cited the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as to why it cannot release Jackson’s health information or cause of death, and Michael Hughes, Buffalo General spokesperson, said Jackson’s family has declined to release his cause of death. Several of Jackson’s former teammates and coaches said Jackson did not have any known medical conditions. Former teammates and coaches also said Jackson had been in a coma since the incident at practice. The Spectrum submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to Amherst Police on Feb. 23 for the report on Jackson’s emergency, but APD had not responded with such documents by the time of press Tuesday night. UB Athletics did not make football players and coaches available for comment on Tuesday, but head coach Lance Leipold did release a statement about Jackson Tuesday afternoon. He called Jackson a “Godly” man who had great values instilled in him by his parents Steve and Jakkii. “Solomon was the epitome of what you want in a college student-athlete,” Leipold said. Athletic Director Allen Greene, who with President Satish Tripathi visited Jackson and his family at Buffalo General last week, gave his condolences to Jackson’s family in a statement announcing Jackson’s death Tuesday morning. He said UB will share information when it becomes available. Buffalo General personnel told The Spectrum on the night of Feb. 22 that Jackson was in critical condition. Buffalo General would then not give an update on Jackson’s condition throughout the week, as Hughes said Jackson’s family had respectfully declined to release any information. Many friends and teammates, both current and former, of Jackson’s took to social media Tuesday to express their grief for Jackson’s death. Many used the hashtag #ForeverABull to honor Jackson. There was also a moment of silence held before Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game in Jackson’s honor. UB Athletics passed around signs with the number 41, Jackson’s number for the Bulls, along with the words “Forever a Bull, RIP Solomon Jackson.” Jackson appeared in all 12 games for the Bulls last season, and registered 13 tackles and two sacks.
Joe Licata vividly remembers a UB home game that he wasn’t particularly proud of. The former UB football star quarterback had just thrown an interception and was distraught about his play. Solomon Jackson then came up to Licata on the sidelines and told him “We’re going to need you. We’ll get you the ball back. Keep doing your thing. We believe in you.” “That’s just him,” Licata said. “He always believed. He always had faith in his guys. He was an ultimate team player.” For 10 seconds at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night, fans, students, UB Athletics administrators and members of the Buffalo and Miami Ohio men’s basketball teams stood together in silence to honor that ultimate team player. Jackson died Monday night, one week after suffering a medical emergency at a team conditioning session off campus on Feb. 22. UB Athletics, while releasing statements from Athletic Director Allen Greene and football head coach Lance Leipold, did not make current coaches and players available for comment Tuesday, and Jackson’s family could not be reached. But some of Jackson’s peers, former teammates and high school administrators who spoke to The Spectrum are choosing to remember Jackson as more than just Buffalo’s sophomore defensive end, but a hard working and caring person with an infectious smile. “He should be remembered as an outstanding person,” said Jackson’s Tucker High School principal James Jackson, who has no relation to Solomon. “Sometimes, we get caught up on the football piece … To me, he’ll always be remembered as a great person. I have three boys. If my boys end up being like Solomon – the way they carry themselves – then I’ve done a great job as a parent.” James Jackson was getting ready for work Tuesday morning when he received a call from Jackson’s father, Steve, around 7:47 a.m. Steve told him Jackson had “gone on to glory.” Initially, James Jackson felt shock. He couldn’t comprehend how this could happen to a person that he said has never had any known prior injury other than a pulled hamstring. Mackenzie Loesing felt the same way. Loesing, a former guard for the women’s basketball team, had a personal friendship with Jackson that went further than the UB Athletics community. When she first learned of Jackson’s passing, she was “devastated.” Fighting back tears, Loesing described the first encounter she ever had with Jackson during student-athlete summer conditioning before UB students arrived to campus. “He went into that big bear hug,” Loesing said. “That’s really representative of who he is as a person. He’s just a warm person from that first moment, he radiated warmth and wasn’t afraid to spread that contagious smile of his.”
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41 TOP PHOTO BY ANGELA BARCA, MIDDLE PHOTOS BY YUSONG SHI, BOTTOM PHOTO BY GABRIELA JULIA, THE SPECTRUM
(TOP) Solomon Jackson during his time with the UB football team. (BOTTOM) Students hold signs memorializing Jackson at Tuesday’s basketball game.
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