Ray Jackson, the leading rusher on the Washington Huskies’ back-to-back Rose Bowl teams in 1959 and 1960, and later one of the school’s first African-American assistant coaches, died March 11 in his hometown of Waco, Texas. He was 83.
In an era that featured Husky legends Bob Schloredt, Don McKeta, George Fleming, Chuck Allen and Roy McKasson, among others, it is Jackson who is remembered as one of the best athletes of them all. At 5 feet 9 and 177 pounds, Jackson was a bruising fullback and a relentless linebacker, and he was single-handedly responsible for one of UW’s most memorable plays in Apple Cup history.