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The critic. The muse. The mentor. Meet the people who built Seahawks defensive end Branden Jackson

Branden Jackson didn't get here by himself. This is the story of how a fallen brother, a resilient grandmother and an NFL analyst he never met have contributed to the Seahawk defensive end's ascent.

Branden Jackson gets his motivation from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

Granted, Jackson — the Seahawks’ second-year defensive end and third-year pro — has never met the man. And maybe that’s the point.

On July 26, less than an hour before the first practice of 2018 training camp, Jackson tweeted a snippet from the scouting report that Zierlein — an NFL Draft analyst for NFL.