Opposites Attack Despite Personality Differences, Cougar Brothers Have Same All-Out Style On The Field

Ray Jackson thinks about becoming an FBI agent or maybe a policeman. Younger brother Chris envisions owning a day-care center.

Ray was against drinking alcohol in high school. Chris considered himself a “weekday partier” as recently as last year.

Ray is the starting free safety on Washington State’s 15th-ranked football team. Chris plays on the opposite side of the ball, as one of WSU’s game-breaking wide receivers.

Ray doesn’t wear much jewelry. Chris often sports gold earrings and a diamond stud in one nostril.

On the surface, Ray and Chris Jackson appear to be separated by far more than just 13 months. “A lot of people see us as being different, but really we’re not,” says Ray.

Both are tremendous natural athletes, although neither played much football in high school.

Ray played just two seasons, and only after earning a B-average as part of a deal with his father. Chris didn’t play prep football at all, preferring basketball and track instead.

When they came to WSU - Ray in 1993, Chris two years later - each was accustomed to getting by on ability alone. Since then, both have made difficult, yet rewarding transitions.

In last week’s 35-22 victory at Illinois, Ray made an interception and Chris scored a touchdown.

This week, Chris supplanted Nian Taylor in the starting lineup.

“Chris is a tremendous route runner, as good as any route runner we’ve ever had here,” says Mike Levenseller, who coaches WSU’s receivers.

Both Ray and Chris are on schedule to graduate in the spring, although Ray, one year older, could have graduated sooner had he not elected to pursue a double major (criminal justice and sociology).

Ray joined the Cougars straight out of Southern California’s Mater Dei High School. He was ready to light up the Pac-10, or so he thought.

“In high school, it’s just so easy,” Ray says.

He was in for an awakening after his freshman season at WSU, when defensive backs coach Mike Zimmer took a job with the Dallas Cowboys.

In came Craig Bray, a more demanding coach with a combative on-field demeanor. Out went Ray’s ego, although the exorcism would take time.

“Coach Bray likes to yell and it was his way or the highway,” Ray says. “And it took a long time to accept that.

“I was real hard-headed, too. I wanted to do it my way, and the way I was coached is the easier way. We had battles - god, we had battles. But it all worked out for the good.”

Player and coach have earned each other’s respect. “He’s a delight to be around,” Bray says. “Just a real good person.”

After Ray’s sophomore season, when he started the first three games at cornerback, coaches asked him to redshirt. The Cougars were loaded in the secondary, and junior-college transfer Brian Walker had supplanted Jackson in the lineup.

Ray resisted at first, but sitting out one season proved to be a blessing. It allowed him time to develop as a player, while giving his brother time to catch up.

Chris had been meandering through life as an aspiring basketball player.

A 6-foot-2 guard with vertical leap to spare, Chris had been awarded a scholarship to play basketball at the University of California, Riverside. But he lost interest after one season and moved home.

Chris soon enrolled at nearby Orange Coast College, where a friend convinced him to give football a try. “Their receivers are horrible,” he was assured.

Chris was an instant success, catching 37 passes for 782 yards during that 1994 season. He was the team’s MVP, but he couldn’t wait to leave. The JC scene was too much like high school. Living at home cramped his increasingly flamboyant style. And he missed Ray.

WSU seemed like a natural destination, but Chris was tempted by interest from USC; the Trojans wanted him to spend another year in junior college.

“I wanted to be with Ray, but I really never heard anything from Washington State,” Chris says. “Ray would always call me and tell me yeah, the coaches are interested in you. I’m like, well, how come I don’t hear from them?

“I was like, you better tell one of them to call me because I’m going to SC. Sure enough, that very night, Coach Price called me.”

Mike Price knew that by offering a scholarship to Chris after just one JC season, he was risking future relations with Orange Coast coach Bill Workman, who he had known for years.

“When you do that, the junior-college coach gets mad,” Price said. “But we knew if he plays another year, we’re going to have to recruit against all these guys, these top schools,”

Within a week, Chris was in Pullman. (Price’s relationship with Workman was derailed, although Price has since tried to make amends).

Under the NCAA transfer rule, Chris had to sit out a season and forfeit a season of eligibility. But with Ray already agreeing to redshirt, their playing careers were finally synchronized.

All Chris needed was an attitude adjustment. That came before this season, when he realized how much his carefree approach was hurting the team.

“It was time for me to look at things from Ray’s perspective,” Chris says, “and take football more seriously.”

Adds Levenseller, “We fought through some things to the point where I have a lot of respect for him now. He plays hard, doesn’t complain. He’s doing it the right way.”

Sort of like Ray, really.

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