Uncle Jack is the nickname of Florida seventh-year wide receiver Kahleil Jackson.
It’s also the name of the trick play the Gators ran against Auburn on Saturday night — a 48-yard double pass from Kahleil Jackson to Amir Jackson.
But the play was more than just an impactful moment in a football game. It encapsulated years of struggle, doubt and determination.
Jackson suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Florida’s season opener against Miami in 2024. He then missed the 2025 season while undergoing a procedure to repair cartilage damage and remove scar tissue in his knee.
“It was a long, tough 18 months, two years. It was definitely a tough journey. A lot of hard days, long days, struggling with the injuries and stuff,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know, like, honestly, if I was going to be able to impact the game the same way, or even at all. But with the right mindset, I was able to push through and get back.”
With Florida leading 14-10 in the second quarter, it was third-and-8 from the Gators’ 39-yard line when the call came in. The successful double pass moved Florida into field-goal range and helped extend its lead.
“I just told myself, ‘Put it out there and let him go get it.’ And he did that,” Jackson said.
This was a play that Buster Faulkner and Florida’s offense had been working on for weeks, even before the start of the season. The Gators got the look they wanted against Auburn.
“It pretty much was exactly what we got in the game, the same look. We replicated that throughout practice that we knew that’s what they were going to do out of that look. So every time we did it in practice, that’s pretty much the same result we got,” Jackson said.
Jackson had been nearly perfect with the play in practice. His only miss came in the least consequential setting — a walkthrough at the team hotel the morning of the game.
“I hit it every time we did it, except for in the walkthrough the morning before the game. I threw it in the curtain in the hotel. But, yeah, we ran it probably like 20 times, so I was ready when it came.”
The 6-foot-3, 214-pound receiver actually started his career at Florida as a walk-on quarterback. Jackson played quarterback at Hawthorne, finishing his high school career with 4,214 passing yards over 22 games (191.5 yards per game), along with 66 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing touchdowns.
Faulkner noticed Jackson throwing with the quarterbacks on the sideline during practice, which sparked the idea for the trick play.
“Me and some of the quarterbacks during practice when we weren’t in in certain reps, we’d be throwing the ball. And he noticed that I could throw and we talked about it before, that I used to play quarterback. So, he just tested it out one practice and that’s when we put it in.”
Jackson had his moment, but he’s focused on creating more opportunities for himself. It’s been a long and difficult journey for the 25-year-old. But now, he’s the strongest he’s been in a long time and is looking to impact the game however he can.
“I definitely want to get more opportunities,” Jackson said. “However they come, I just got to make the most of them, whether that’s catching passes, blocking or throwing touchdowns.”
And Jackson doesn’t believe we’ve seen the last of him throwing a football.
“We’ll see something in the future.”