Inside DeSean Jackson’s ‘Go Deep’ Doc

Even before DeSean Jackson reached the NFL, his future was the payoff of a high-stakes family investment. Where the sports world saw an overbearing dad in his late father, Bill, a new documentary, Go Deep: The DeSean Jackson Story, reveals the reality: Bill’s relentless drive was a shield built to safeguard his son’s trajectory.

In an exclusive interview with The Root, Jackson spoke about how the documentary became a love letter to his father and his entire family. Captured across 35 years of footage by DeSean’s older brother Byron— a former NFL player-turned-filmmaker- the documentary transcends typical sports nostalgia.

It stands as an intimate portrait of a Black family seizing ownership of their story, outmaneuvering the odds, and winning on their own terms. 

The doc also captures Jackson’s journey to the HBCU sidelines, spearheading the revival of the Delaware State Hornets program as head coach.

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​“This was always the plan. Byron has been filming since I was like six, seven years old, so we had 35 years of uncut raw footage, and we partnered with Amazon,” Jackson told The Root. “They did a great job of cutting it and putting it out. It shows a father’s passion for his kids to be successful and make it to the NFL.”

​He added, “My older brother made it to the NFL, but he only played for two years. His passion was to be a filmmaker and to create stories and documentaries.”

​While DeSean’s speed is the main event, it’s the towering presence of his late father, Bill Jackson, that truly anchors the documentary. He emerges as the film’s heart and soul.

A fiercely committed father, Bill treated his son’s athletic success as a lifeline. Where critics saw just another sports dad, Bill was executing a deliberate blueprint by using tough-love training as armor to insulate DeSean from neighborhood risks and forge his own destiny in the NFL.

​”It was an honor to shine a light on my dad and everything he did for our family. He always put us first. There was some negativity in how he viewed coaches, but there was so much positive about what it means to be a dedicated father,” Jackson said.

“People will see the full picture—the thin line between love, passion for sports, and knowing when you’re pushing a kid too hard. I’m just glad everyone gets to see it,” he added.

Although Bill passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2009, during DeSean’s rookie seasson, the film serves as a heartfelt tribute to his memory and a powerful testimony to Black fatherhood.

“He meant everything to our family. He did everything he did for us as kids, and he always put us first. While he didn’t play any games, there was so much positive about him being a father who always had our best interests at heart,” said Jackson. “I’m glad everyone finally gets the opportunity to see him in the doc.”

​After retiring from the NFL in 2023, Jackson admitted that coaching was not on his radar. Following a brief coaching stint in high school football, he made a major leap in late 2024 by taking over as head coach at Delaware State University.

​“When I first retired, I sat back and didn’t do anything. After my second year, I got into coaching and I kind of just fell in love with it,” he recalled. “I was coaching for a high school team in Long Beach, and in my first year we did some successful things. Then right after that season, the opportunity at Delaware State kind of fell on my lap.

​“I reached out to a few of my coaches that I played for, and I asked him, ‘How do you think I would be as the head coach?’ After I got nothing but great remarks back, I was like, ‘All right, man, let me test my luck with this and just go see what happens.’ So I made the most out of it,” he continued.

​In his first season, taking over a struggling Delaware State program,  Jackson led the Hornets to an 8–4 season—the Hornets’ best finish since 2007—and thrust the program straight into the MEAC title race.

After five seasons as one of the NFL’s most explosive duos in Philadelphia, Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson faced off as MEAC rivals at Lincoln Financial Field. In front of nearly 50,000 fans at the “HBCU Battle of the Legends,” Jackson’s Delaware State squad defeated Vick’s Norfolk State team 27-20—a matchup Jackson called a “surreal moment.”

​”It was like a dream come true without us dreaming about that, if that makes sense. We both never envisioned being college coaches,” Jackson recalled. “We played and scored a lot of touchdowns together, and years later, we were looking across from each other as head coaches of HBCU programs. I think that will go down in history.

​Jackson’s leap to Delaware State reinforced a growing wave of former players using their personal brand and pro experience to revitalize HBCU programs. He sees it as his duty to use his celebrity status to spotlight HBCU football.

“I’ve been able to do some great things that I probably never envisioned. Being in the Tri-State area,  I played for Philadelphia, the Washington Commanders, and the Baltimore Ravens, so I’m close to a lot of those areas, and I’m able to rub elbows with some of those organizations and try to get them to support Delaware State as we continue to build. I want to get more eyes on HBCU football.”