Portal High School senior athlete, Amir Jackson, officially signed with the University of Florida Football team on Wednesday afternoon in front of his school, community, family and friends at Portal Middle High.
To say he has had an impact would be an understatement. When asked who loves Amir, his whole school cheered at the top of their lungs. Many probably thought basketball was going to be the sport Jackson would pursue at the next level, but Amir fell in love with football and that filled him out.
Amir Jackson has had many accomplishments while being a Portal Panther:
- two-time all-state football player
- 2023 region athlete of the year
- first-team all-region as a junior
As a receiver, he had 86 catches for 1,437 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also had 46 carries for 388 yards and five touchdowns. For his senior year, he threw a touchdown and had 250+ returning yards which put him at just over 3,000 all-purpose yards.
A lot of people had some great things to say about Amir from his strong foundation of faith, to his dedication to his family and academics, and his commitment to athletics.
“I have no doubt that Amir is going to do great things because of his work ethic and because of his character,” Jason McEachin, Panther Varsity Football head coach said. “As long as you can have that type of character and work ethic like he does, regardless whether you make it as an athlete at the next level or not, you can and will be successful in life.”
Amir may have officially signed the papers Wednesday afternoon, but he officially committed to the Gators a while ago on June 17, 2023. Florida was the first SEC Division one school to offer him a scholarship, and when he visited, it felt like another home to him.
“The reason why I chose Florida was because it was based on Portal,” Amir said. “I went to Florida like three times and it felt like home.”
Amir's mother, Eboney Jackson, couldn’t be more proud of her son. She sees him going as far as he wants to go in life.
“I’m just so proud of him and everything he’s done to become this phenomenal,” said Ms. Jackson.
Jackson is a tri-athlete who has participated in football, basketball, and track and field since he has been a student at Portal Middle High. everything comes to an end, but his accolades at Portal Middle High will be able to continue to grow as he looks to win a championship in basketball and track this year.
