Downey creates his own path to football opportunity at UNH
Sep. 22—Jackson Downey figured his path to athletic glory would involve a sheet of ice, a stick in his hands, and skates on his feet.
The Marblehead resident loved hockey growing up. He and his younger brother Colt played the game and would go up to the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H. with their father, Patrick, to watch the University of New Hampshire men's team play whenever possible.
"I loved watching the students chirp the other team's goalie and how they'd throw a fish on the ice," said the now 18-year-old Downey. "We got a bunch of jerseys, went down to the UNH locker room after games and had the players sign it. That was totally it for me; I wanted to play and inspire younger kids the way those guys inspired me."
Downey will get that chance — albeit in a different athletic endeavor.
Now a rock solid 6-foot-2 and 205 pound free safety, Downey is eager to begin his senior season of football at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H. This time next year, he'll be donning the Wildcat colors after having accepted an offer to continue his career playing Division 1 college football at UNH.
It's the same place that his father, a former Bishop Fenwick star, attended in the mid-1990s as a standout center who captained the 1997 UNH squad end earned First Team All-New England honors before going on to play professionally in the NFL (Chargers, Redskins, Patriots), NFL Europe and Arena Football League.
"This is really exciting, to be going to a school that's always been so close to my family and I," said Jackson Downey, who also attended Wildcat football games as a kid — but didn't start playing himself until his freshman year at Marblehead. "Getting the chance to go play for Coach (Ricky) Santos after they offered me a scholarship was exactly what I was hoping for."
His father never pushed him into playing football, said the younger Downey, "but knowing what he did and how it shaped his life, along with the fact that I had an uncle and a cousin play, too, I thought, 'This was meant to be. Let's go all the way with this'."
Downey entered Marblehead High as a 5-foot-6, 145-pound freshman. "I literally didn't know anything about playing football: formations, how to read a defense, anything," he said. He transferred to Cushing Academy in Ashburnham to repeat his ninth grade year, and things started to click both in the classroom and on the gridiron, he said.
He played as a freshman for the Penguins, had his sophomore season wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, and made the move to Proctor for his junior year. Having grown and put on muscle (he now weighed 195), Downey finished with four interceptions in eight games for the Hornets in 2021. Come springtime he had a number of Division 1 FBS and FCS schools courting his services, including UMass, UConn, Holy Cross, Maine, Villanova, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Elon (N.C.), and UNH.
"Going to Proctor has changed my life," said Downey, who'll be with the Hornets next Saturday when they play at Pingree (5 p.m.). They open the 2022 season this weekend against home against Berkshire.
"Coach (Benjamin) Rulli has taken me under his wing and trusted me to make a difference on defense. He's done so much for me. And I love the environment, my teachers and friends here, too."
A summer spent working out religiously with his father each day — everything from running hill sprints with a weighted vest to flipping 500 lb. tractor tires — increased his strength, flexibility and endurance that much more. Downey can now run a 4.68 40-yard dash, does a 4.21 pro shuttle, can squat 505 lbs. and has a broad jump of nine feet two inches.
"I wanted to push the limits every day," said Downey, who also credited his mother, Andrea, and brother as huge influences on him. "That motivation got me up and ready to go every morning."
For someone who wants to always "be the most athletic kid on the field" and have a "relentless mentality" in the defensive backfield, Downey and the Hornets — in a loaded senior class of football players — wants this to be a senior to remember before he heads off to the Granite State next fall for the next chapter in his gridiron story.
"We want to be the best we can absolutely be as a team," he said. "If we can go 9-0 and get to a (New England Prep School) bowl game, that'd be great."
Contact Phil Stacey
@PhilStacey_SN
Contact Phil Stacey
@PhilStacey_SN
