Keith Jackson
Junior Achievement of Arkansas honored athletes-turned-businessmen Keith Jackson, Stephen Jones and Sidney Moncrief with the Legacy Award at its annual Legacy Award Business Luncheon on Tuesday.
“Each year, we select leaders for the Legacy Award who are showing our youth the importance of education and community involvement,” said Chad Kauffman, president of Junior Achievement of Arkansas. “In 2015, we had more than 500 corporate and community JA volunteers in Arkansas. We want to see more in 2016, and these men are great role models to help us grow.”
Junior Achievement is a nonprofit that forms partnerships between businesses and educators, helping students to gain financial literacy at a young age. The organization helps more than 13,000 students in Arkansas each year using a network of volunteers.
The awards luncheon took place at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock.
Jackson is a former professional football player for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers. Along with Chuck Barrett, he calls Razorback football games on the radio through the Razorback Sports Network.
In 1993, he founded PARK (Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids). The nonprofit aims to build students’ confidence and self-esteem while helping them find success in academics and instill an ambition to help others.
Moving from a nine-year NFL career into the business world, Jackson said he took elements of his sports persona and used them to be successful off of the field.
“When you’re in sports you definitely have to learn how to grind through — you’ve got to get through those tough times,” Jackson said. “In business, it doesn’t go well all the time, so you’ve got to learn to grind through that. You learn that if you get knocked down, you’ve got to get back up. I think an important aspect of being a businessperson is to have that no-quit attitude.”
He said he misses the paychecks and the locker room camaraderie of the NFL, but PARK is a rewarding career that he sees himself continuing for a long time.
“This isn’t a job, it’s a calling,” Jackson said.
Stephen Jones is the COO, executive vice president and director of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys. He is also son of Dallas Cowboys owner and previous Legacy Award winner Jerry Jones. Stephen Jones oversaw the planning, design and completion of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
In his acceptance speech, Stephen Jones said he was fortunate not to need Junior Achievement because he had mentors in his life to fill that role.
“Our youth are our future and what we have to look forward to,” Jones said.
Moncrief is a former basketball player for the University of Arkansas and the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. He and his wife own Moncrief OneTeam, a family organization that consults on topics such as leadership, career readiness, coaching and team enhancement. Moncrief also operated an auto dealership and is a published author.
Moncrief said that money and prestige are not important to him.
“We all have to challenge each other to do more,” Moncrief said. “We have a slogan at my company, ‘Step up your game.’ We all have one more gear to tap into.”
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