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Socci's Notebook: Steven Jackson Hopes To Make Trip To Super Bowl After Globetrotting

BOSTON (CBS) -- In his 11-plus years as an NFL running back, Steven Jackson has covered more than 15,000 yards of earth from the line of scrimmage, while becoming a globetrotter of a different sort.

With an appreciation for architecture, his major at Oregon State University, and a mind open to new experiences, Jackson set out to the see the world during the summer buffers between football seasons. He's marveled at Machu Picchu, swum the Great Barrier Reef and hiked along the glaciers of Patagonia and up volcanoes of Central America.

During Jackson's now-annual tour, which to date includes more than 40 countries, he developed an eye for photography as well. Many of the scenes captured by his camera, like the written reflections from his journeys, are preserved on Jackson's website.

They're there for others to see the discoveries and observations of a man whose far-away adventures are born of self exploration.

"Every offseason I take a number of trips abroad and I use that time to reflect on things that I've accomplished over the past year and to set goals for the following year," Jackson said several Thursdays ago, shortly before he and the Patriots left for Miami and the regular season finale. "Those challenging trips hiking, kayaking, snorkeling -- whatever it is, like the great barrier reef, that was pretty challenging for me -- when you do those kind of things and you realize how small you are in the world."

So says someone -- albeit a soft-spoken someone -- whose hulking 6-foot-3 figure is sculpted from 229 pounds of muscle.

"It makes you think about things full circle and about what's your impact," Jackson says, "and what you can get better at."

As "a citizen of the world," searching to become "A Better Me," as Jackson writes in his blog, you're left to think about the impact of others. Like the ingenuity of the centuries-ago engineers who built one of Jackson's favorite cities, Rome.

"There's just so much history there. The architecture there is just beautiful," he said, generally speaking, before citing the specifics of still-operable waterways that were erected from 312 BC to 226 AD. "And to know that they still have aqueducts and things like that from thousands of years ago still functioning is pretty impressive."

Like the sight of that Roman engineering, the thought of Jackson still functioning as a 32-year old -- practically ancient for his position by pro football standards -- is pretty impressive as well. Though the average NFL running back is built to last just over three years, Jackson has lasted roughly four times as long.

Even more remarkably, he's done it with an upright style that invites frequent contact from defenders. What keeps Jackson running, after 2,764 regular-season carries and all their accompanying hits, is the goal of getting to one place he's never gone -- the Super Bowl.

His best -- and likely last -- chance to get there occurs Sunday afternoon in Denver.

Before joining the Patriots with just two games to go in the regular season, Jackson, a 2004 first-round pick of the St. Louis Rams, had only appeared in one NFL postseason. It was as a rookie, and his Rams were beaten in the Divisional round.

Individual acclaim in the form of Pro Bowl selections (three) and All-Pro honors (two) followed for a decade. But there was nary a return trip to the playoffs.

Upon reaching 30, believing he'd devoted as much as he could to a stagnant Rams organization, Jackson opted out of St. Louis and signed with Atlanta in 2013. The Falcons were coming off three straight playoff appearances, including a berth in the NFC Championship game a year earlier.

Steven Jackson
Running back Steven Jackson (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

By adding the running of Jackson to the passing of Matt Ryan to Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, Atlanta was expected to complete the next step with a title. Instead, Jackson and his new team each took a step back.

The Falcons went from 13 wins to 12 losses. Meanwhile, after eight straight years of 1,000-plus yards on the ground in St. Louis, Jackson barely gained half that total (545) as a first-time, injury-plagued Falcon.

Last season meant more of the same for Atlanta, costing head coach Mike Smith his job. As for Jackson, he experienced a slight increase in his production. Still, not surprisingly, considering a salary-cap savings of reportedly $3.75 million, the Falcons let him go with one year remaining on his contract.

Steven Jackson
Running back Steven Jackson. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

For the next eight months, even as he explored life outside of football, Jackson awaited a call from another organization offering another opportunity. All the while, the student of architecture continued treating his body as a temple.

Finally, in late November, the introspective Jackson arrived at an intersection of resolution and resignation.

"That was the point when I came to the conclusion that it had to be the right situation and I told myself that I was willing to walk away from the game if it wasn't the right situation, and that I'm ready to move on," Jackson recalled. "And I also said that I'll make myself a better me. I think I started that by enrolling back in school, working on my mental part, staying sharp."

From his home in Las Vegas, Jackson enrolled in an on-line business class offered by Oregon State. He started viewing the sport differently, while allowing himself to sacrifice less and indulge a little more around the holiday dinner table.

"To be honest with you, Thanksgiving weekend was my farewell to myself, to the game," Jackson said. "As far as football, I was slowly getting back to becoming a fan and watching the game and enjoying it, instead of criticizing it and looking at schemes.

"It was the first Thanksgiving weekend where I didn't have to worry about eating and then weighing in the next day."

It wasn't long -- by Christmas, in fact -- before Jackson's outlook on the game and his approach to eating changed again. That call he'd essentially stopped waiting for finally came. On the other end was Bill Belichick.

On Dec. 22, Jackson signed with the Patriots. Five days later, he carried seven times for 15 yards against the Jets. Though his reps were limited and his stint with the team was very brief, Jackson was convinced that, indeed, New England was exactly the situation he sought for so long.

"All my expectations coming in have been exceeded," he said before his next outing at Miami. "Coach (Belichick) does a good job of preparing guys. Even when you do good things on the field, he still corrects the little things that you can get better at. And when you talk about details of the game, you can see why this organization is so successful over this past decade (and) longer.

"(Ideologically), we line up very well. What (Belichick) is doing and what he's coaching the young guys to get done, and what the veterans over here have accomplished over the years, it's right in my...mentality, the way I approach the game, the way I approach my life."

As Jackson crammed to learn the Pats offense, younger teammates gave him help grasping terminology and concepts. In return, they gained wisdom from a savvy veteran who's been around the NFL block more than a few times.

"When you're a mentor and when you're a guy who wants to see the next generation succeed, it's just in you," Jackson said. "Although they're helping me learn the language and the playbook, I still help them in the finer details of the game and what's allowed me to be around for so long."

Against the Dolphins, Jackson's workload increased to 14 rushes and a reception that netted 20 yards. He converted a couple of 3rd-and-shorts and scored on a 1st-and-goal run from the 2-yard line. In his assessment afterwards, Belichick said that he saw "good things to build on" and believed that Jackson could "help us on all three downs."

Subsequently, Belichick was asked what it was like to work with someone he's liked a great deal since first spotting Jackson as a college prospect.

"Great, he's great to coach," Belichick replied. "You would think he's a rookie – he's just trying to soak everything in, understand everything as well as he can. He practices hard, he runs scout team, does the things he needs to do to improve and work on some things he hasn't been able to do in months when he was working out but not playing football.

"Really, literally every day he walks off the field is better than it was the day before, including the games, which again are limited, but hopefully there will be more of them."

There was one more last Saturday vs. Kansas City in the divisional playoffs, in which Jackson totaled six carries and a 2-yard catch. And there will be at least one more Sunday in Denver.

Steven Jackson
Steven Jackson carries the ball in New England's playoff game versus the Kansas City Chiefs. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Depending how it goes, Jackson may get to pack his football travel bag one more time to experience first hand a sporting spectacle made by man, right here in modern America.

Bob Socci is the radio play-by-play voice of the New England Patriots. You can follow him on Twitter @BobSocci.

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